Reciprocal data file publishing and matching system

ABSTRACT

A method of reciprocally publishing and matching data files is disclosed. The method includes facilitating the creation of Category A and Category B data files having a respective sets of characteristics defined utilizing a common language architecture, associating enhancement objects with each data file, identifying characteristics in each data file which must be met by other data files, weighting characteristics in each data file differently from other characteristics in the same data file, enabling the selection of participation levels for each data file in marketspaces, and matching Category A data files participating in particular marketspaces to Category B data files participating in the same marketspaces using the common language architecture, the enhancement objects, the weights and the required characteristics.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional and continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/918,851, filed Jul. 31, 2001, which claimsbenefit of, and priority to, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.60/221,731, filed Jul. 31, 2000, and U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 60/240,368, filed Oct. 13, 2000, all entitled “RECIPROCAL DATA FILEPUBLISHING AND MATCHING SYSTEM.” The specifications, drawings, andcomplete disclosures of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/918,851, andU.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 60/221,731 and 60/240,368 areincorporated herein by specific reference.

FIELD OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a network-based system formatching data files and, in particular, to an Internet-based marketplacefor publishing user-defined data files and intelligently matching datafiles of a first type to data files of a second type.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

It is well-known that marketplace participants of many different typeshave had particular specialized needs which may not have readily beenavailable through convenient channels of trade, such as stores or asdescribed in mass-market advertising. Thus, these participants, whichmay be individuals, organizations or other participant types have had toresort to a variety of relatively crude methods in an attempt to meettheir needs, which may include, for example, needs for particular goods,services or personnel. Similarly, marketplace participants which may beable to offer such specialized goods, services or personnel frequentlyhave difficulty in making their offerings available to the parties mostinterested in them through convenient channels of trade.

One frequently-used method of allowing consumers of these goods,products or services, which may collectively be referred to as “items,”to find suppliers has been through the classified advertisement sectionsprovided in virtually all newspapers. For example, the owner of a usedcar may place an ad describing the characteristics of the car and namingan asking price. A house-painter may place an ad describing the serviceshe provides. An organization may place an ad describing a particular jobwhich it would like to fill. Unfortunately, the newspaper classifiedssystem suffers from a number of drawbacks. The newspaper merely providesa mechanism for publishing the advertisement and is unable to provideany assistance in guiding suppliers and consumers together other than ingrouping the ads into general categories. In addition, such a systemincludes no reciprocity: the parties most interested in responding tothese ads are unlikely to publish ads of their own describing the car,painter or job sought because of the large cost involved in proportionto the number of likely suppliers to be reached with the ad, and so thenewspaper publisher would be unable to match consumers to suppliers evenif the newspaper had a mechanism for doing so.

Other approaches to this problem have evolved around the uniquecharacteristics of specific markets. For example, a wide variety ofsystems and techniques have been developed in an effort to bringjob-seekers and job openings together. Unfortunately, the solutionswhich have been developed are highly fragmented and inefficient. Forexample, recruiters or “headhunters” actively match job-seekers to jobopenings, but the process is very labor-intensive and expensive.Placement agencies are somewhat more efficient for lower-skilledpositions, but are considerably less effective at recruiting and placinghigher-skilled workers and are still relatively expensive. Mass marketadvertising through print, television or radio advertisements may beeffective in reaching potential employees, but suffer from many of thesame drawbacks as the classified ad system. Mass marketing may also bepracticed by job-seekers who blanket organizations with resumes, butbecause the resumes frequently fail to target particular jobs, andbecause the sheer number of resumes is frequently overwhelming, it isoften very difficult for organizations to effectively process theresumes to match job-seekers to possible job openings.

The advent of the internet has provided a powerful new medium forbringing sellers and consumers of a wide variety of items in innovativeways. For example, eBay provides a wildly popular online auction systemfor sellers and consumers of items all over the world. Priceline.comenables buyers, rather than sellers, to specify the price they arewilling to pay for certain items with sellers having the choice ofwhether to sell at the specified price, thus reversing the traditionalroles of buyer and seller in a transaction. In the job marketplace,hundreds of job listing and resume clearinghouses have proliferated,giving job-seekers heretofore unavailable access to organizations andjob-opening information. In each case, however, the onus typicallyremains on the users of each such system to search through the system tofind the item sought.

A number of patented and unpatented internet systems have beenintroduced with a wide variety of features purporting to help automatethe process of matching job-seekers to job openings. For example,e-Recruiter (from Hire.com) and MBAFreeAgents.com each attempt tostandardize the language used in the job-matching process by providingjob-seekers with a collection of possible standard responses in each ofa number of categories, and providing employers with the samecollections of choices when the employers are defining job openings.Unfortunately, the categories in which choices are offered by eithersystem are very limited. e-Recruiter also allows employers to furthercustomize their individual systems by defining collections of choices inadditional categories. An unfortunate result, however, is thate-Recruiter is implemented separately by every individual employer, thusrequiring job-seekers to learn each separate employer's “language” inorder to use the system effectively. The Pentawave system, as describedby U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,375, provides job-seekers with a collection ofpossible standard responses in each of a number of categories, andprovides employers with the ability to search by the same criteria.Unfortunately, the Pentawave system allows employers only to search onthe criteria, and does not allow employers to define job openings in thesame way. Thus, a need exists for a job-matching or item-matching systemin which the entirety of an extremely comprehensive resume may bedefined by a standard language which corresponds completely to thelanguage utilized to describe all job openings defined by employers, andwhich is implemented in the same way on every web site affiliated withthe system, and which allows job-seekers to search for job openings thatmatch their own criteria.

In another system which attempts to standardize the language used in thejob-matching process, CareerSite allows job-seekers and employers todescribe themselves and their job openings, respectively, by inputtingsimple words or phrases in response to each of a set of questions. Athesaurus then examines the responses and identifies possible “concepts”which the job-seeker or employer, respectively, may choose to require tobe present in a job opening or candidate, respectively. The questionsmay be the same for both job-seekers and employers, so the search engineis able to determine “matches” by comparing the concepts extracted fromthe job-seeker's input to the concepts extracted from the employer'sinput in each category. The use of the thesaurus enables the job-seekerand the employer to respond to the same question in different ways or“languages” by translating what each says into a common set of concepts.Unfortunately, this “translation” process requires a great deal ofintelligence to be built into the system in order to allow job-seekersand employers to communicate with each other using different“languages.” Thus, a need exists for a job-matching or item-matchingsystem in which job-seekers and employers alike utilize the same“language” to describe both themselves and their job openings,respectively, so that “translation” is minimized or eliminated.

Several systems provide mechanisms for adding additional descriptiveelements to a data file representing items such as resumes orjob-openings. For example, Headhunter.net appears to allow a job-seekerto complete a psychological profile and to attach the results to hisresume for review by potential employers. CareerMosaic and CareerSiteallow employers to include a link to the employer's web site, whichcould be utilized to provide additional details about the employer.CareerSite allows employers to post a webpage of information aboutthemselves within the CareerSite system. e-Recruiter allows employers toinclude a list of interview questions for job-seekers with each jobopening they post, and allows job-seekers to enter responses for eachquestion. Unfortunately, none of these systems provide or suggest theuse of additional “add-ons,” and Headhunter.net does not even discloseor suggest the concept of objects. The Pentawave system described byU.S. Pat. No. 5,592,375 allows employers to pose questions tojob-seekers, and captures and stores the job-seeker' audio or videoresponses, and, in addition, allows other types of multimedia to beinput as well. Unfortunately, like the other referenced systems, thesystem of U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,375 itself makes only one type of “add-on”available, while other add-ons must be manually created by job-seekersin a format that prospective employers may or may not wish, or even beable, to take advantage of Further, although, as described, severalprior art systems allow a user, such as a job-seeker, to provide aadd-on of various types, none of the prior art systems allow acomplementary user, such as a job-offeror, to provide a reciprocaladd-on which may, for example, be matched against, or compared to, thefirst user's add-on. Thus, a need exists for a system which provides alarge library of standardized “object” types to both job-seekers andprospective employers for custom completion, and in which reciprocalobjects may be completed by job-seekers and employers and then includedin the matching process.

Some systems provide users with the power to exercise greater controlover the results of a given database search by allowing them to specifycertain terms or attributes which must be present in a given data filein order for the data file to be included in the results of the search.For example, the Pentawave system described by U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,375allows employers to exclude a job-seeker entirely when the job-seekerlacks any of the specified attributes. Unfortunately, no correspondingcomplementary function is available to job-seekers for use incontrolling the importance of specific attributes when searching forsuitable job openings. On the other hand, CareerSite.com allowsjob-seekers and employers to require that certain “concepts,” asdetermined by a thesaurus, must be present in a particular job openingor candidate, respectively, in order for a “match” to be found.Unfortunately, the thesaurus only recognizes certain concepts, and othersearch phrases are ignored, and the thesaurus also includes “synonyms”for the specific concepts which are entered when it searches availablejob openings or candidates, so the scope of what may be included inorder to find a “match” is very broad. Thus, a need exists for a systemin which both employers and job-seekers may reciprocally require thatone or more specific attributes be present in the data filescorresponding to the job-seeker and the job opening, respectively.

Similarly, some systems provide users with the power to exercise greatercontrol over the results of a given database search by allowing them to“weight” their preferences with regard to certain terms or attributes ina given data file in order to rank the data files returned in a givensearch. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,694 allows job-seekers to moreaccurately describe desired job types by “weighting” their job typepreferences. Unfortunately, “weighting” is only done in conjunction witha staff-reallocation or retraining-management system for determiningwhat jobs might be appropriate for particular individuals, and noprovision is made for weighting any other factors or attributes. ThePentawave system described by U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,375 allows employersto weight the importance to be given to each individual candidateattribute. Unfortunately, no corresponding function is available tojob-seekers for use in controlling the importance of specific attributeswhen searching for suitable job openings. Thus, a need exists for asystem in which both employers and job-seekers may reciprocally weighttheir preferences with regard to a wide variety of specific attributesin the data files corresponding to the job-seeker and the job opening,respectively.

Most prior art systems allow users to view any data file in the systemsimply by entering a search term which is found in that particular datafile. At least one system limits the viewing of data files to thoseusers who provide specific information about themselves which meets thecriteria of the owners of the data files. Specifically, theMBAFreeagents system allows employers to limit the dissemination ofinformation about particular job openings to those job-seekers whoindicate that they have a particular area of expertise and a particularlevel of experience. Unfortunately, this feature is more targeted atmeeting the employer's criteria and not the other way around, thecriteria for which this feature may be applied is very limited, and anemployer can still view resumes for job-seekers who select differentareas of expertise and levels of experience than that specified by theemployer. Thus, a need exists for a system which allows data file ownersto limit access to their respective data files to those users who meetthe criteria of the data file owners.

Another known system is the CareerPath.com system. CareerPath.com postselectronic job listings which correspond directly to classifiedadvertisements printed in a wide variety of major newspapers.Unfortunately, the job openings posted at the CareerPath.com web siteare merely copied and/or reformatted directly from the printadvertisements without providing job-seekers with any additionalfunctionality, nor may a job-seeker review job listings in a printednewspaper and then cross-reference a listing on CareerPath.com. Thus, aneed exists for an online system which interacts with print media byenabling employers to place newspaper advertisements which may becross-referenced by job-seekers to data files stored within the systemand which utilizes the matching and standardization features availablethrough the online system.

Several systems include a network of related web sites to enable usersto more efficiently focus on specific item characteristics, such asjob-openings in specific geographic areas or in specific industries. Forexample, Career Mosaic has industry specific databases and provides agateway to international web sites which provide access to internationaldatabases. I-Jobs.com has dozens of similar web sites purporting totarget particular types of jobs or jobs in specific geographiclocations. Unfortunately, Career Mosaic and I-Jobs merely collect andpublish job listings and resumes without purporting to provide anyemployment matching capabilities. I-Jobs.com enables employment searchesto be conducted in different sectors of industry or by geography throughmultiple web sites. Unfortunately, each web site appears to becontrolled by I-Jobs.com, and thus each such web site must compete withjob searching or matching systems offered by entities such as localtrade groups or local media including newspapers and radio andtelevision stations; industry trade associations; individual employers;college placement centers; staffing companies and the like. CareerSiteappears to offer a matching system for matching job-seeker profiles tojob openings which is utilized by both a “universal” web site as well asby other co-branded web sites as well. Unfortunately, theCareerSite-branded web sites are not integrated with one another,forcing users to register at each web site separately and to learn eachinterface separately Thus, a need exists for a system in which userseither offering or searching for items such as job openings mayselectively control the scope of the dissemination of, or the searchfor, information about those job openings or other items, and canutilize a standardized interface to do so.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly described, the present invention relates to a method ofreciprocally publishing and matching data files, the method comprisingthe steps of facilitating the creation of a Category A data file havinga first set of characteristics defined utilizing a common languagearchitecture, facilitating the creation of a Category B data file havinga second set of characteristics defined utilizing the common languagearchitecture, and matching characteristics in the Category A data fileto characteristics in the Category B data file using the common languagearchitecture.

In features of the present method, the first set of characteristicsincludes a subset of desired Category B characteristics; the Category Adata file describes a job-seeker, and the desired Category Bcharacteristics are desired job characteristics; the Category A datafile describes a job, and the desired Category B characteristics aredesired characteristics of a job-seeker; the second set ofcharacteristics includes a subset of desired Category A characteristics;the Category A data file describes a job-seeker, and the desiredCategory B characteristics are desired job characteristics, and theCategory B data file describes a job, and the desired Category Acharacteristics are desired characteristics of a job-seeker; the step offacilitating the creation of a Category A data file includes the step oforganizing the data in the Category A data file under a first set ofprimary headings, the step of facilitating the creation of a Category Bdata file includes the step of organizing the data in the Category Bdata file under a second set of primary headings, and each of at leastsome of the first set of primary headings corresponds to a respectivemember of the second set of primary headings; each of a majority of thefirst set of primary headings corresponds to a respective member of thesecond set of primary headings; the step of facilitating the creation ofa Category A data file further includes the step of organizing the datain the Category A data file under a first set of secondary headings, thestep of facilitating the creation of a Category B data file includes thestep of organizing the data in the Category B data file under a secondset of secondary headings, the first and second sets of secondaryheadings are organized under the first and second sets of primaryheadings, respectively, and each of at least some of the first set ofsecondary headings corresponds to a respective member of the second setof secondary headings; each of a majority of the first set of secondaryheadings corresponds to a respective member of the second set ofsecondary headings; each of substantially all of the first set ofsecondary headings corresponds to a respective member of the second setof secondary headings; the method further comprises the step ofproviding a plurality of standardization mechanisms, and the step ofmatching step includes automatically comparing at least 75% of thecharacteristics in the Category A data file to correspondingcharacteristics in the Category B data file using a standardizationmechanism; and the standardization mechanisms include the comparison ofa yes/no Category A characteristic to a yes/no Category Bcharacteristic, the comparison of a Category A characteristic selectedfrom a list to a Category B characteristic selected from the same list,the comparison of a plurality of Category A characteristics selectedfrom a list to a plurality of Category B characteristics selected from alist, the comparison of a numerical Category A characteristic to anumerical Category B characteristic, and the comparison of a Category Acharacteristic selected from a multi-tiered library of characteristicsto a Category B characteristic selected from the same multi-tieredlibrary.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of reciprocallypublishing and matching data files includes: storing a Category A datafile having a first set of characteristics; storing a Category B datafile having a second set of characteristics; associating a Category Aenhancement object with the Category A data file; associating a CategoryB enhancement object with the Category B data file; and automaticallymatching the Category A data file to the Category B data file at leastpartially on the basis of the contents of the respective Category A andCategory B enhancement objects.

In features of this aspect, the Category A data file describes ajob-seeker; the Category B data file describes a job; the Category Aenhancement object is an assessment of the thinking styles of thejob-seeker, and the Category B enhancement object is an assessment ofthe thinking styles required by the job; the Category A enhancementobject is an assessment of the work preferences of the job-seeker, andthe Category B enhancement object is an assessment of the work stylesrequired by the job; the Category A enhancement object is an assessmentof the professional skills possessed by the job-seeker, and the CategoryB enhancement object is an assessment of the professional skillsrequired by the job; the step of automatically matching the data fileson the basis of the respective enhancement objects includes the step ofautomatically matching the data files at least partially on the basis ofa comparison of the Category A enhancement object to the Category Benhancement object; and the method further includes the steps of: inresponse to a command from a first user, facilitating the creation ofthe Category A enhancement object on the basis of input from the firstuser, and in response to a command from a second user, facilitating thecreation of the Category B enhancement object, wherein the creation ofthe Category B enhancement object occurs independently from the inputprovided by the first user.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of reciprocallypublishing and matching data files includes: storing a Category A datafile having a set of characteristics corresponding to a Category A item;storing a Category B data file having a set of characteristicscorresponding to a Category B item; associating a plurality of CategoryA enhancement objects with the Category A data file, wherein eachCategory A enhancement object comprises a collection of supplementaldata corresponding to the Category A item and arranged in object form;and matching the Category A data file to the Category B data file.

In features of this aspect, the method further includes the step ofproviding the Category A data file, together with the Category Aenhancement objects, to a Category B user; the method further includesthe step of enabling the Category B user to choose whether to access anyof the Category A enhancement objects with the Category A data file; themethod further includes the step of associating a plurality of CategoryB enhancement objects with the Category B data file; the method furtherincludes the step of providing the Category B data file, together withthe Category B enhancement objects, to a Category A user; the Category Aitem is a job-seeker, and the plurality of Category A enhancementobjects are selected from the group consisting of a thinking stylesassessment object, a work preferences assessment object, a professionalskills assessment object, a mission statement and core values object, apast experiences timeline object, and a virtual interview object; andthe Category A item is a job opening, and the plurality of Category Aenhancement objects are selected from the group consisting of apreferred thinking styles assessment object, a preferred workpreferences assessment object, a preferred professional skillsassessment object, a day-in-the-life object, an organizational overviewobject, a group culture object, a relationship map object, and a virtualinterview object.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of reciprocallypublishing and matching data files includes: storing a Category A datafile having a set of characteristics corresponding to a Category A item;storing a Category B data file having a set of characteristicscorresponding to a Category B item; facilitating the creation of aCategory A enhancement object in a standard format, wherein the CategoryA enhancement object comprises a collection of supplemental datacorresponding to the Category A item and arranged in object form;associating the Category A enhancement object with the Category A datafile; and matching the Category A data file to the Category B data file.

In features of this aspect, the method further includes facilitating thecreation of the Category A data file; the Category A item is ajob-seeker, and the Category A enhancement object is a thinking stylesassessment object, a work preferences assessment object, a professionalskills assessment object, a mission statement and core values object, apast experiences timeline object, or a virtual interview object; theCategory A item is a job opening, and wherein the Category A enhancementobject is a preferred thinking styles assessment object, a preferredwork preferences assessment object, a preferred professional skillsassessment object, a day-in-the-life object, an organizational overviewobject, a group culture object, a relationship map object, or a virtualinterview object.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of reciprocallypublishing and matching data files includes storing a Category A datafile having a first set of characteristics; storing a Category B datafile having a second set of characteristics; identifying at least oneCategory A data file characteristic which must be met by the Category Bdata file; and identifying at least one Category B data filecharacteristic which must be met by the Category A data file.

In features of this aspect, the method further includes the step ofcomparing the Category A data file to the Category B data file todetermine if the identified Category A data file characteristic is metby the Category B data file, the method further includes the step ofdisplaying the Category B data file to a Category A user only if theidentified Category A data file characteristic is met by the Category Bdata file; the method further includes the step of displaying theCategory A data file to a Category B user only if the identifiedCategory A data file characteristic is met by the Category B data file;the method further includes the step of scoring the Category A data fileagainst the Category B data file only if the identified Category A datafile characteristic is met by the Category B data file; the methodfurther includes the step of scoring the Category B data file againstthe Category A data file only if the identified Category B data filecharacteristic is met by the Category A data file; the method furtherincludes the step of comparing the Category B data file to the CategoryA data file to determine if the identified Category B data filecharacteristic is met by the Category A data file; the method furtherincludes the steps of facilitating the selection, by a Category A user,of at least one Category A data file characteristic which must be met bythe Category B data file, and facilitating the selection, by a CategoryB user, of at least one Category B data file characteristic which mustbe met by the Category A data file; and the Category A data filedescribes a job-seeker and the Category B data file describes a job.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of reciprocallypublishing and matching data files includes storing a Category A datafile having a first set of characteristics; storing a Category B datafile having a second set of characteristics; weighting at least a firstcharacteristic of the Category A data file differently from a secondcharacteristic of the Category A data file; weighting at least a thirdcharacteristic of the Category B data file differently from a fourthcharacteristic of the Category B data file; and matching the Category Adata file to the Category B data file at least partly on the basis ofthe differing weights of the first and second characteristics of theCategory A data file and the third and fourth characteristics of theCategory B data file.

In features of this aspect, the matching step includes examining therelationship between the first characteristic of the Category A datafile and the third characteristic of the Category B data file, theweight placed on the first characteristic corresponds to the importanceplaced on the relationship between the first and third characteristicsby a Category A user; the weight placed on the third characteristiccorresponds to the importance placed on the relationship between thefirst and third characteristics by a Category B user; the matching stepfurther includes examining the relationship between the secondcharacteristic of the Category A data file and the fourth characteristicof the Category B data file; the matching step includes scoring theCategory B data file against the Category A data file at least partly onthe basis of the differing weights of the first and secondcharacteristics of the Category A data file and the third and fourthcharacteristics of the Category B data file; the Category B data file isa first Category B data file, the method further comprising the steps ofstoring a second Category B data file, and ordering the Category B datafiles according to how well the Category B data files match the CategoryA data file; the Category A data file is a first Category A data file,the method further comprising the steps of storing a second Category Adata file, and ordering the Category A data files according to how wellthe Category A data files match the first Category B data file; themethod further includes the step of displaying the ordered Category Adata files to a first Category B user, wherein the first Category B usercorresponds to the first Category B data file; the method furtherincludes the step of separately ordering the Category A data filesaccording to how well the Category A data files match the secondCategory B data file; the method further includes the step of displayingthe ordered Category A data files to a second Category B user, whereinthe second Category B user corresponds to the second Category B datafile; and one of the Category A data file and the Category B data filedescribes a job-seeker, and the other of the Category A data file andthe Category B data file describes a job.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of reciprocallypublishing and matching data files includes: storing a first data filehaving a first set of characteristics corresponding to a job-seeker;storing a second data file having a second set of characteristicscorresponding to a job; identifying a first job-seeker data filecharacteristic which must be met by the second data file; and applyingrelative weights to the importance of at least a second job-seeker datafile characteristic and a third job-seeker data file characteristic,wherein the second job-seeker data file characteristic and the thirdjob-seeker data file characteristic are weighted differently.

In features of this aspect, the method further includes the step offacilitating the selection of the first job-seeker data filecharacteristic from among all of the first set of characteristics; themethod further includes the step of facilitating the selection of thesecond and third job-seeker data file characteristics, from among all ofthe first set of characteristics, to which the weights are to beapplied; and the method further includes the step of facilitating theselection of the magnitude of the weights to be applied to the secondand third job-seeker data file characteristics.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of reciprocallypublishing and matching data files includes: storing a plurality ofCategory A data files, each corresponding to a Category A user and eachhaving a set of characteristics; storing a plurality of Category B datafiles, each corresponding to a Category B user and each having a set ofcharacteristics; enabling a first Category A user to select aparticipation level for a first Category A data file with regard to theCategory B users, wherein the participation levels include a firstparticipation level, in which the Category B data files are availablefor display to the first Category A user and the first Category A datafile is automatically available for display to the Category B users, anda second participation level, in which the Category B data files areavailable for display to the first Category A user but the firstCategory A data file is available for display to each Category B useronly upon the selection of a Category B data file, corresponding to therespective Category B user, by the Category A user; and enabling a firstCategory B user to select a participation level for a first Category Bdata file with regard to the Category A users, wherein the participationlevels include a first participation level, in which the Category A datafiles are available for display to the first Category B user and thefirst Category B data file is automatically available for display to theCategory A users, and a second participation level, in which theCategory A data files are available for display to the first Category Buser but the first Category B data file is available for display to eachCategory A user only upon the selection of a Category A data file,corresponding to the respective Category A user, by the Category B user.

In features of this aspect, the method further includes the steps of: ifthe first participation level is selected for the first Category A datafile, displaying the first Category A data file to all of the Category Bdata files, and if the second participation level is selected for thefirst Category A data file, displaying the first Category A data fileonly to those Category B users corresponding to Category B data filesselected by the first Category A user; the method further includes thestep of displaying the Category B data files to the first Category Auser, wherein each Category B data file is displayed to the firstCategory A user only if the respective Category B data file is availablefor display to the first Category A user; the method further includesthe steps of: if the first participation level is selected for the firstCategory B data file, displaying the first Category B data file to allof the Category A data files, and if the second participation level isselected for the first Category B data file, displaying the firstCategory B data file only to those Category A users corresponding toCategory A data files selected by the first Category B user; the methodfurther includes the steps of: displaying the Category B data files tothe first Category A user, wherein each Category B data file isdisplayed to the first Category A user only if the respective Category Bdata file is available for display to the first Category A user, anddisplaying the Category A data files to the first Category B user,wherein each Category A data file is displayed to the first Category Buser only if the respective Category A data file is available fordisplay to the first Category B user; and if the second participationlevel is selected for the first Category A data file, and if the secondparticipation level is selected for the first Category B data file, thenthe method further including the steps of preventing the first CategoryA data file from being viewed by the first Category B user, andpreventing the first Category B data file from being viewed by the firstCategory B user.

In additional features of this aspect, if the second participation levelis selected for the first Category A data file, each Category B datafile is displayed only if its corresponding Category B user selects aparticipation level in which the respective Category B data file isavailable for display to the first Category A user; the method furtherincludes the steps of: if the first participation level is selected forthe first Category B data file, displaying the Category A data files tothe first Category B user, and if the second participation level isselected for the first Category B data file, preventing the Category Adata files from being displayed to the first Category B user; if thefirst participation level is selected for the first Category B datafile, each Category A data file is displayed only if its correspondingCategory A user selects a participation level in which the respectiveCategory A data file is available for display to the first Category Buser; the method further includes the step of imposing a charge on thefirst Category A user according to the participation level selected; themethod further includes the step of imposing a charge on the firstCategory B user according to the participation level selected; the stepof enabling the first Category A user includes enabling the firstCategory A user to select a participation level for the first Category Adata file from among at least three participation levels, and theparticipation levels include the first participation level, the secondparticipation level, and a third participation level in which theCategory B data files are available for display to the first Category Auser but the first Category A data file is unavailable for display toany of the Category B users; the method further includes the step ofimposing a charge on the first Category A user according to theparticipation level selected; the step of enabling the first Category Buser includes enabling the first Category B user to select aparticipation level for the first Category B data file from among atleast three participation levels, and the participation levels includethe first participation level, the second participation level, and athird participation level in which the Category A data files areavailable for display to the first Category B user but the firstCategory B data file is unavailable for display to any of the Category Ausers; the first participation level for the first Category B data fileincludes an automatic participation level in which the Category A datafiles are available for display to the first Category B user and thefirst Category B data file is automatically available for display to allof the Category A users, and a selective participation level in whichthe Category A data files are available for display to the firstCategory B user but the first Category B data file is available fordisplay to each Category A user only upon the selection of a Category Adata file corresponding to the respective Category A user by theCategory B user; the method further includes the step of comparing thefirst Category A data file to the first Category B data file; thecomparing step occurs only if the first Category A user selects aparticipation level in which the Category A data file is available fordisplay to the first Category B user, and if the first Category B userselects a participation level in which the first Category B data file isavailable for display to the first Category A user; the method furtherincludes the step of comparing the first Category A data file to aplurality of Category B data files; for each Category B data file, thecomparing step occurs only if the first Category A user selects aparticipation level in which the Category A data file is available fordisplay to the Category B user corresponding to the Category B datafile, and if the Category B user corresponding to the Category B datafile selects a participation level in which the Category B data file isavailable for display to the first Category A user; each of the CategoryA data files describes a job-seeker, and each of the Category B datafiles describes a job; and each of the Category A data files describes ajob, and each of the Category B data files describes a job-seeker.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of reciprocallypublishing and matching data files includes: storing, in a computersystem, a data file having a set of characteristics; assigning a uniquereference identifier to the data file; providing the unique referenceidentifier to a user without using the computer system; and upon theentry of the reference identifier into the computer system, displayingthe data file to the user.

In features of this aspect, the step of providing the unique referenceidentifier to a user includes distributing the identifier to the user ina printed publication; the step of distributing the identifier includespublishing the identifier in a newspaper the step of publishing theidentifier in a newspaper includes the steps of publishing theidentifier in a classified advertisement in the newspaper; the user is aCategory A user, and the data file corresponds to a Category B user; thedata file is a Category A data file and the set of characteristics is afirst set, wherein the method further includes storing, in the computersystem, a Category B data file having a second set of characteristics,and, upon the entry of the reference identifier, comparing the CategoryA data file to the Category B data file using the first and second setsof characteristics; the data file describes a job; the data filedescribes an individual seeking companionship; and the data filedescribes goods offered for sale.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of reciprocallypublishing and matching data files includes: storing a Category A datafile having a first set of characteristics; publishing the Category Adata file in a specific marketspace; storing a Category B data filehaving a second set of characteristics; publishing the Category B datafile in a specific marketspace; and matching the Category A data fileand the Category B data file only upon the condition that both datafiles are published in the same marketspace.

In features of the present invention, the step of publishing theCategory A data file includes the step of assigning a marketspaceidentifier to the Category A data file; the step of publishing theCategory A data file further includes the step of storing themarketspace identifier with the Category A data file; the method furtherincludes the step of determining whether the marketspace identifiercorresponds to the second marketspace, and the step of matching theCategory A data file and the Category B data file occurs only if themarketspace identifier does correspond to the second marketspace; themarketspace identifier is a first marketspace identifier and the step ofpublishing the Category B data file includes the step of assigning asecond marketspace identifier to the Category B data file; the step ofpublishing the Category B data file further includes the step of storingthe second marketspace identifier with the Category B data file; themethod further includes the step of determining whether the firstmarketspace identifier matches the second marketspace identifier, andthe step of matching the Category A data file and the Category B datafile occurs only if the marketspace identifiers do correspond; themethod further includes the step of publishing the Category A data filein a third marketspace, wherein the third marketspace is different fromthe first marketspace; the step of publishing the Category A data filein the first marketspace includes the step of storing a firstmarketspace identifier with the Category A data file, the step ofpublishing the Category B data file in the second marketspace includesthe step of storing a second marketspace identifier with the Category Bdata file, and the step of publishing the Category A data file in thethird marketspace includes the step of storing a third marketspaceidentifier with the Category A data file; the method further includesthe steps of determining whether the first marketspace identifiermatches the second marketspace identifier and determining whether thethird marketspace identifier matches the second marketspace identifier,and the step of matching the Category A data file and the Category Bdata file occurs only if the second marketspace identifier doescorrespond to one of the first and third marketspace identifiers; andthe method further includes the step of publishing the Category B datafile in a fourth marketspace, wherein the fourth marketspace isdifferent from the second marketspace, and the step of publishing theCategory B data file in the fourth marketspace includes the step ofstoring a fourth marketspace identifier with the Category B data file.

In additional features of this aspect, the method further includes thesteps of providing a plurality of affiliated systems, each affiliatedsystem providing access to data files, and determining a marketspace fora data file on the basis of the affiliated system through which the datafile is accessed; the step of determining a marketspace for a data fileincludes the steps of determining a marketspace for the Category A datafile on the basis of the affiliated system through which the Category Adata file is accessed, and determining a marketspace for the Category Bdata file on the basis of the affiliated system through which theCategory B data file is accessed; the step of publishing the Category Adata file includes publishing the Category A data file in the determinedmarketspace for the Category A data file, and the step of publishing theCategory B data file includes publishing the Category B data file in thedetermined marketspace for the Category B data file; each affiliatedsystem provides access to Category A data files and Category B datafiles; the step of providing a plurality of affiliated systems includesthe steps of providing a plurality of Category A affiliated systems,each affiliated system providing access only to Category A data files,and providing a plurality of Category B affiliated systems, eachaffiliated system providing access only to Category B data files; themethod further includes the step of facilitating the selection of aparticipation level for the Category A data file, wherein theparticipation level may be selected from at least a participating leveland a non-participating level, and the step of publishing the Category Adata file includes the step of selecting the participating level for theCategory A data file; the step of facilitating the selection of aparticipation level includes the steps of facilitating the selection ofa participation level for the Category A data file in a firstmarketspace, and facilitating the selection of a participation level forthe Category A data file in a second marketspace; the step of publishingthe Category A data file includes the steps of presenting a plurality ofmarketspace choices to a Category A user, and determining the firstmarketspace on the basis of the Category A user's response to thepresented marketspace choices; the step of publishing the Category Bdata file includes the steps of presenting a plurality of marketspacechoices to a Category B user, and determining the second marketspace onthe basis of the Category B user's response to the presented marketspacechoices; the marketspace choices include a plurality of geographic areasdesignations; the geographic areas include areas defined generally bystatistical metropolitan areas; the marketspace choices include aplurality of industry sector designations; each Category A data filedescribes a job; each Category A data file describes an individualseeking companionship; and each Category A data file describes goodsoffered for sale.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of reciprocallypublishing and matching data files includes storing a Category A datafile having a set of characteristics corresponding to a Category A item;storing a Category B data file having a set of characteristicscorresponding to a Category B item; and using fuzzy logic to determinethe degree of fit of the Category B data file relative to the Category Adata file.

In features of this aspect, the step of using fuzzy logic to determinethe degree of fit includes using fuzzy logic to compare a plurality ofthe Category B characteristics to respective Category A characteristics;the step of using fuzzy logic to compare Category B characteristics toCategory A characteristics includes using fuzzy logic to determine thedegree of fit of each of the plurality of Category B characteristics toa respective Category A characteristic; the Category B data file is afirst Category B data file, the method further comprising the steps ofstoring a second Category B data file, using fuzzy logic to determinethe degree of fit of the second Category B data file relative to theCategory A data file, and ordering the Category B data files accordingto the relative fits of the respective Category B data files; and themethod further includes the step of using fuzzy logic to determine thedegree of fit of the Category A data file relative to the Category Bdata file, wherein the degree of fit of the Category A data filerelative to the Category B data file is determined separately from thedegree of fit of the Category B data file relative to the Category Adata file.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features, embodiments, and advantages of the present inventionwill become apparent from the following detailed description withreference to the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a computersystem for facilitating the reciprocal publication and matching of datafiles according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a server of the computer systemof FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a typical user computer of the computersystem of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4A is a block diagram illustrating the data exchange processcarried out by the computer system of the present invention;

FIG. 4B is a block diagram further illustrating the data exchangeprocess carried out by the computer system of the present invention;

FIGS. 5A-5B are flowchart diagrams illustrating steps taken by an eresowner in conjunction with the job-seeker interface and other componentsof the software system of the present invention in executing the eresmanagement process;

FIGS. 6A-6B are flowchart diagrams illustrating steps taken by an eroleowner in conjunction with the job-offeror interface and other componentsof the software system of the present invention in executing the erolemanagement process;

FIGS. 7A-7C are state diagrams illustrating the job-seeker interface ofthe system of the present invention;

FIGS. 8A-8C are state diagrams illustrating the job-offeror interface ofthe system of the present invention; and

FIGS. 9A-9C are flowchart diagrams illustrating steps taken by theintelligent agent in conjunction with the software system of the presentinvention in executing the intelligent agent matching process.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is directed primarily to a network- orInternet-based marketplace in which organizations or individuals canreciprocally create and publish data files describing goods, services,personnel or the like for which they would like to find suitablecorresponding goods, services, personnel or the like as described bycorresponding data files. In a preferred embodiment, the web-basedmarketplace of the present invention is directed to the publishing ofresume-like documents and job-description-like documents and theintelligent matching of the job-seekers publishing the former documenttype to job openings offered by employers publishing the latter documenttype. However, it should be understood that the reciprocal publishingsystem of the present invention may be equally applied to a wide varietyof diverse marketplaces including, but not limited to, consumer andspecialty goods, real estate, and the like.

Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals represent likecomponents throughout the several views, a reciprocal data filepublishing and matching system 20, in accordance with the preferredembodiments of the present invention, is next shown and described. Sincethe preferred embodiment of the present invention is directed to aweb-based or Internet-based marketplace, the system architecture forsuch a business is described first with reference to FIGS. 1 through 3.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a computer system 20 by which users mayreciprocally publish and match data files according to the presentinvention is shown. The computer system 20 includes one or more networkinformation server 100, 101, a plurality of Category A-user computers300, and a plurality of Category B-user computers 301, all of which areinterconnected by a communications network 200. For clarity, thecomputer system 20 depicted in FIG. 1 shows only three networkinformation servers 100, 101, several Category A user computers 300 andseveral Category B user computers 301. In actual practice, however, amultiplicity of Category A- and B-user computers 300, 301 can beinterconnected by the network 200 to the network information servers100, 101, and, if desired, the functions of the network informationservers 100, 101 described herein may be performed by several differentcomputers/servers operated by a system administrator. Indeed, theadvantages obtained by the present invention are maximized if the systemis used by a large number of both Category A users and Category B users.

The Category A- and Category B-user computers 300, 301, and networkinformation servers 100, 101 are connected to the network 200 viarespective network interfaces 304, 305, 130 and 131. In a preferredembodiment, each network information server 100, 101 is a worldwide webserver machine (or “server”) and the network 200 is a distributed publicnetwork, such as the Internet. However, for certain aspects, and incertain embodiments, the network may be a private network, such as anIntranet. The Category A- and Category B-user computers 300, 301 and theservers 100, 101 may be connected to the network 200 using a publicswitched telephone network, such as those provided by local or regionaltelephone operating companies, or using dedicated data lines, cellularcommunication systems, satellite networks, cable television networks, orany other suitable connection means. User computers 300, 301 and servers100, 101 may also be connected to the network 200 via an InternetService Provider.

As shown in FIG. 2, each server 100, 101 includes a central processingunit (CPU) 105, random access memory (RAM) 110, read only memory (ROM)115, a clock 120, an operating system 125 and a data storage device 160.Each server 100, 101 may also include a searching processor 135, acalculating processor 140, a communications processor 145, a reportingprocessor 150, and an accounting processor 155. Each server 100, 101 maybe a conventional personal computer, a server, or a computer workstationhaving sufficient processing ability and memory. In a preferredembodiment, each server 100, 101 acts as a worldwide web server,receiving and transmitting data to and from system users via theworldwide web or Internet. The servers 100, 101 must have the ability toaccommodate high volume transaction processing as well as the ability toperform a large number of mathematical calculations and to accommodatelarge database searches. If the computer system 20 grows large, theserver 100, 101 may include additional processors, servers, storage anddatabases necessary to efficiently accommodate the number of authorizedusers and the size of the databases used in this computer system 20.Additional servers may also be utilized to offload specificresource-intensive tasks such as background calculations, eventprocessing, or the like from any of the web servers 100, 101 utilizingsystems and methods well-known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

The CPU 105 and other processors 135, 140, 145, 150, and 155 may beconventional computer microprocessors, such as the Intel Pentiummanufactured by Intel Corporation or other microprocessors manufacturedby other companies. Alternatively, some or all of the functionsperformed by the processors 135, 140, 145, 150, and 155 may be performedby the CPU 105.

Conventional network operating systems, such as Windows NT, UNIX, orother similar operating systems, may be utilized as the operating system125 in the servers 100, 101. Each network interface 130, 131 may includea conventional internal or external modem and may also include routers,load sharing devices, hubs, switches, firewall devices, and the like,all of which are conventional and known to those skilled in the art. Inthe preferred embodiment, each server 100, 101 includes softwaresupporting the hosting of a worldwide web site. In addition, the networkinterface 130, 131 is connected to the Internet via an online serviceprovider or via a dedicated data communication line provided bytelephone companies such as a T1 or T3 line. The server 100 may alsoinclude conventional web server software, such as iPlanet Web Server(Fast Track Edition) manufactured by iPlanet (an alliance between Sunand Netscape) or Internet Information Server (“IIS”) manufactured byMicrosoft Corporation.

The data storage device 160 may include magnetic storage devicescommonly referred to as “hard drives,” CD-ROM storage devices, flashmemory devices, optical storage devices, magnetic tape storage devices,or volatile semiconductor memory devices, or a combination of theaforesaid mentioned items. The data storage device 160 includesdatabases necessary for processing the various transactions andcommunications between professionals and clients according to thepresent invention and as will be discussed in greater detailhereinafter. A database management system, such as those produced by,Microsoft Corporation, Oracle Corporation, or Excelon, Inc. may be usedin developing and managing the databases in the server 100.

A raid controller 196 is interposed between the database storage device160 and the CPU 105. The raid controller 196 performs several datamanagement functions that provide multiple redundancies within the datastorage device 160 to protect data from being corrupted or lost if aportion of the data storage device 160 fails or becomes corrupted.Alternative forms of storage may also include disk subsystems. Disksubsystems suitable for use with the present invention are availablefrom Hitachi, Ltd. and EMC Corp.

The Category A database 165 includes a master list of Category A datafiles 405 which have been created by Category A users. The database 165includes the substantive content of each Category A data file 405. Itwill be obvious that the type of data comprising the content of theCategory A data files 405 is dependent on the type of item to which thesystem is directed. The database 165 also includes instructions forpublishing or distributing the contents of each Category A data file 405within the system, including both information describing themarketspaces the Category A data file 405 is to be published ordistributed and the type of publication or distribution to be utilizedin each such marketspace. Publication, distribution and marketspaces aremore fully described below. The database 165 also includes informationdescribing those Category B data files 410 which have been matched toeach Category A data file 405, as well as scoring information indicatinghow closely each such Category B data file 410 matches the respectiveCategory A data files 405.

The Category B database 170 includes a master list of Category B datafiles 410 which have been created by Category B users. The database 170includes the substantive content of each Category B data file 410. Itwill be obvious that the type of data comprising the content of theCategory B data files 410 is dependent on the type of item to which thesystem is directed. The database 170 also includes instructions forpublishing or distributing the contents of each Category B data file 410within the system, including both information describing themarketspaces the Category B data file 410 is to be published ordistributed and the type of publication or distribution to be utilizedin each such marketspace. Publication, distribution and marketspaces aremore fully described below. The database 170 also includes informationdescribing those Category A data files 405 which have been matched toeach Category B data file 410, as well as scoring information indicatinghow closely each such Category A data file 405 matches the respectiveCategory B data files 410.

Each server 100, 101 may also include an administrator interface 195,which may include a keyboard, mouse, video monitor, scanner, voicerecognition system, printer, or other system commonly used to facilitatedata exchange between a computer user, such as the system administrator,and a computer, such as one of the servers 100, 101.

FIG. 3 illustrates a typical user computer 300, 301 for use with thesystem 20 of the present invention. The computer 300, 301 includes a, auser interface 310, a CPU 320, a RAM 325, a ROM 330, a clock 335, and adata storage device 340. A user computer 300, 301 may be a conventionalpersonal computer or a computer workstation having sufficient memory andprocessing ability. The network interface 304 facilitates datatransmission between the user computer 300 and the network 200. In apreferred embodiment, the network 200 is a public distributed networksystem such as the Internet and the user computer 300, 301 includessuitable Internet browser software, such as Netscape Navigator orMicrosoft Internet Explorer, that is capable of interpreting informationgenerated by the servers 100, 101 and displaying such information on avideo monitor associated with the user computer 300. The networkinterface 304 may be an internal or external modem and may be connecteddirectly to the network or Internet using a direct communication line ora high band width communication line, such as Ti or T3 line, or thenetwork interface 304 may be connected to the Internet via an InternetService Provider. The CPU 320 of the professional computer 300 mayinclude a conventional microprocessor, such as an Intel Pentiumprocessor or other similar microprocessor commonly used in personalcomputers or workstations. The data storage device 340 may includemagnetic “hard disk” devices, CDROM devices, volatile semiconductormemory, flash memory, optical storage unit, magnetic tape storage units,or similar storage devices. Data exchange between the computer user andthe professional computer 300 is facilitated by the user interface 310,which may include a keyboard, mouse, scanner, printer, voice recognitionequipment, video monitor, or other similar devices commonly used toexchange data between a user and a personal computer.

Together, the user computers 300, 301, the network 200, and the servers100, 101 are used by Category A users and Category B users to facilitatethe matching of Category A data files to Category B data files using theinternet marketplace, methods, and processes described hereinafter.

Having discussed the system architecture of the computer system 20, themethods and processes used by the reciprocal data file publishing andmatching system will now be discussed in greater detail. When a useraccesses the computer system 20 via the network 200, a server 100generates a main display screen or web page that is viewed by the useron the user's video monitor through a network interface 304, 305. Asdescribed herein, once a user has accessed the main web page of thesoftware system 40, users are presented with a number of options oradditional screens or pages which they can access. For example, userscan initiate the registration process for a Category A user or initiatethe registration process for a Category B user. Although as described,either type of user may begin on the same screen or page, it will beobvious to one of ordinary skill that a different main screen or pagemay be utilized for each different type of user. The various methods andprocesses that are available to users and that are performed by thecomputer system 20 will now be described in greater detail withreference to FIGS. 4 through 9.

General Overview of Software System

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the data exchange process carriedout by the system 20 of the present invention. The system 20 enables twosets of users to meet in a central marketplace for the purpose offacilitating a transaction. Each user type has a particular type of itemwhich he is offering to another user type in the transaction. Using aCategory A interface 7000, provided by the system 20, a plurality ofCategory A users may each develop a contextual representation 401 of aCategory A item. Each Category A user may then utilize the Category Ainterface 7000 to establish a set of dissemination instructions,integral with the Category A contextual representation 401, which definethe portions of the Category A contextual representation 401 that are tobe disseminated and further to define the users to which the selectedportions are to be disseminated. At approximately the same time, aplurality of Category B users may each utilize a Category B interface8000, also provided by the system 20, to develop a contextualrepresentation 402 of a Category B item. It will be assumed herein thatthe Category B user are each interested in offering a Category B item toa Category A user in exchange for a Category A item, and further thatthe Category B user are each interested in offering a Category B item toa Category B user in exchange for a Category A item. Each Category Buser may then utilize the Category B interface 8000 to establish a setof dissemination instructions, integral with the Category B contextualrepresentation 402, which define the portions of the Category Bcontextual representation 402 that are to be disseminated and further todefine the users to which the selected portions are to be disseminated.It should be noted that the system 20 may enable different portions ofthe respective Category A and B contextual representations 401, 402 tobe disseminated differently.

In addition to establishing which portions of the respective itemcontextual representations 401, 402 are disseminated and to whom theyare disseminated, each Category A user may also utilize the Category Ainterface 7000 to establish a set of subscription instructions, integralwith the category A contextual representation 401, which may describethe portions of the Category B contextual representations 402 which theCategory A user wishes to receive, the sources of those portions, thedesired characteristics of the Category B items sought, how theinformation received should be considered and presented, and the like.Similarly, each Category B user may also utilize the Category Binterface 8000 to establish a set of subscription instructions, integralwith the category B contextual representation 402, which may describethe portions of the Category A contextual representations 401 which theCategory B user wishes to receive, the sources of those portions, thedesired characteristics of the Category A items sought, how theinformation received should be considered and presented, and the like.It should be noted that the mechanisms, described herein, by which therespective users establish their dissemination and subscriptioninstructions may be coincident, and may also be coincident withmechanisms utilized to enter content into the respective contextualrepresentations 401, 402. It should be understood that in the followingdescriptions, any control exercised by a user over the dissemination ofdata or information associated with one or more of that user'srespective contextual representations 401, 402 shall be referred to asdissemination instructions, and any control exercised by a user over anydata or information received which is associated with a particularcontextual representation 401, 402 of an item of a type different fromthat user's own shall be referred to as subscription instructions.

Each Category A contextual representation 401 includes at least aCategory A data file 405 which includes at least two segments: an itempreferences segment 406 and an item description segment 407. The itempreferences segment 406 details the Category A user's preferences withregard to a Category B item, and the item description segment 407describes the Category A item offered by the Category A user. Similarly,each Category B contextual representation 402 includes at least aCategory B data file 410 which likewise includes at least two segments:an item preferences segment 411 and an item description segment 412. Theitem preferences segment 411 details the Category B user's preferenceswith regard to a Category A item, and the item description segment 412describes the Category B item offered by the Category B user. Becausethe Category A and B users thus “own” their respective Category A and Bdata files 405, 410, the Category A and B users are respectively definedas Category A and B “owners.”

An intelligent agent 415 continually compares the Category A data files405 to each Category B data file 410 on the basis of the Category B itempreferences in the Category A data files 405 and the Category B itemdescription in the Category B data file 410, and compares the Category Bdata files 410 to each Category A data file 405 on the basis of theCategory A item preferences in the Category B data files 410 and theCategory A item description in the Category A data file 405. Thecomparison may be limited to only those portions of the respective datafiles 405, 410 which have been disseminated to their respective owners.The Category B data files 410 which match each Category A data file 405are placed into a corresponding Category B data file pool 420 for reviewby the owner of the Category A data file 405 using the Category A userinterface 7000. Concurrently, the Category A data files 405 which matcheach Category B data file 410 are placed into a corresponding Category Adata file pool 425 for review by the owner of the Category B data file410 using the Category B user interface 8000.

In order to facilitate the entry of data into each Category A andCategory B data files 405, 410, and more significantly, thestraightforward comparison of data in a particular Category A data files405 to corresponding data in a particular Category B data file 410, avariety of mechanisms, referred to herein as the common languagearchitecture, may be utilized by the system of the present invention tostandardize the data in the respective data files 405, 410 and tostandardize the format in which that data is entered, stored anddisplayed. The common language architecture thus allows the intelligentagent 415 to more precisely assess how closely a particular Category Adata file 405 matches a particular Category B data file 410 and howclosely that Category B data file 410 matches that Category A data file405.

Also as shown in FIG. 4, each Category A or B contextual representation401, 402 may further include one or more enhancement objects 430, 435which may be associated with each respective Category A or B data file405, 410. The enhancement objects 430, 435 provide additional detailsabout the items being offered by the Category A and B owners,respectively. Thus, a Category A owner who is viewing the Category Bdata files 410 in his Category B data file pool 420 may generally alsoview those Category B enhancement objects 435, or those portions of theCategory B enhancement objects 435, associated with each of the datafiles 410 in his pool 420. Similarly, a Category B owner who is viewingthe Category A data files 405 in his Category A data file pool 425 maygenerally also view those Category A enhancement objects 430, or thoseportions of the Category A enhancement objects 430, associated with eachof the data files 405 in his pool 425. Optionally, however, access tothe enhancement objects 430, 435 could be limited on the basis of somecriteria, including, for example, the payment of an additional fee. Alsooptionally, each type of Category A enhancement object 430 maycorrespond to a particular type of Category B enhancement object 435,which may be a reciprocal version of the Category A enhancement object430, and the intelligent agent 415 may also consider the content of therespective Category A and B enhancement objects 430, 435 when matchingCategory A and B data files 405, 410. Preferably, the system 20 of thepresent invention provides a library of pre-defined enhancement objecttypes from which a user may select as desired. In addition, the system20 preferably allows users to define additional enhancement objecttypes. A system of enhancement objects suitable for use with the presentinvention is the plusObjects system of enhancement objects developed byDigital Discoveries, Inc. of Knoxville, Tenn.

The system 20 may be accessed through any affiliated system 30.Affiliated systems 30 may be administered by a central administrationauthority using a primary server 100, or may be administeredindependently using one or more affiliate servers 101. If affiliateservers 101 are utilized, they should preferably be connected to theprimary server 100 using a high speed data connection.

Each affiliated system 30 corresponds to a particular marketspace. Fromthe user's perspective, marketspaces serve to more efficiently bringtogether Category A and B users having a common interest. From thesystem administrator's perspective, marketspaces are a partitioningmeans for subdividing the entire set of users into smaller, moremanageable groups. Each marketspace represents a subset of the totalmarket for a particular item type. Marketspaces may be created ordefined to focus on particular geographic areas, particular user types,particular item types, particular transaction types, or any other typeof interest that the market participants might have in common. Thisenables, for example, a Category B user offering an item in a particulargeographic area to offer the item only to Category A users in thatgeographic area or who have an interest in finding an item in thatgeographic area. Because users are commonly only interested in itemswithin a particular marketspace, such as items within a particulargeographic area, the use of appropriate marketspaces often serves tolimit the scope of a user's search for a suitable item to a much moremanageable number of prospective matches than would be involved if theentire universe of items were considered. This minimizes the amount ofsystem resources that must be consumed in comparing the data files 405,410 which represent those items to one another. This also permits anadministrator to more effectively allocate the costs of a particular setof comparisons on the basis of the scope of the items considered whendoing the comparisons.

Each marketspace may be independently “owned” by an affiliate. Bylicense or other legal relationship, the affiliate may have the rightand authority to control aspects of how their respective marketspaceworks. For example, the marketspace may be configurable to be “open,”such that anyone may participate, or “closed,” such that restrictionsare placed on who may participate. One type of marketspace which mightbe closed is a marketspace corresponding to a particular organization,in which users may only access data files 405, 410 within thatmarketspace.

A user who wishes to participate in a particular marketspace establishesa participation relationship between his respective data file 405, 410and the desired marketspace by registering his data file 405, 410 withthe affiliated system corresponding to that marketspace. Thus, forexample, a Category A user interested in Category B items in aparticular geographic area could access the system 20 through theaffiliated system 30 corresponding to the desired marketspace merely byregistering his data file 405, 410 with that affiliated system 30.Instructing the system 20 to consider Category B items in a particularmarketspace when attempting to find a match for the user's Category Aitem is an example of a type of subscription instruction.

By dividing the universe into a set of overlapping marketspace networks,the system 20 allows users to control the participation of theirrespective data files 405, 410 on a marketspace basis. If a Category Bowner wishes for Category A users in a particular marketspace to see hisCategory B item, he registers his Category B data file 410 in theaffiliated system corresponding to the selected marketspace andinstructs the system 20 to publish his data file 410 in thatmarketspace. Moreover, each user can control the publication of hisrespective data file 405, 410 in each marketspace individually. Thus, aCategory A owner may choose to publish his data file 405 in a firstmarketspace and a second marketspace, but not to publish the data file405 in a third marketspace. The data file 405 could then be accessed byCategory B owners through the affiliated system 30 corresponding to thefirst marketspace or the affiliated system 30 corresponding to thesecond marketspace, but not through the affiliated system 30corresponding to the third marketspace. Instructing the system 20 topublish the Category A user's data file 405 to Category B item owners inthe first and second marketspaces but not in the third marketspace is anexample of a type of dissemination instruction.

Preferably, the system 20 provides additional publishing options aswell, including at least one mechanism for allowing a user to associatea data file 405, 410 of one type with a data file 410, 405 of the othertype directly. In a first exemplary direct association mechanism, a datafile may be published using a reference identifier program. For example,in such a program, a unique reference identifier, referred to herein asa “reference ID,” may be assigned to a Category B data file 410 whichhas been published in the reference ID program. A Category A user maythen view the Category B data file 410 and associate his Category A datafile 405 with the Category B data file 410 directly. In a secondexemplary direct association mechanism, a data file may be publishedusing an ad hoc query program. For example, in such a program, aCategory B data file 410 be made available to database queries which areformulated by a Category A user. If the Category B data file 410satisfies a particular query by a Category A user, then the Category Bdata file 410 is included in a query match list. The Category A user maythen view the Category B data file 410 and associate his Category A datafile 405 with the Category B data file 410 directly. Publishing programsemploying such direct-association mechanisms may be referred to hereinas “direct-connect” programs, and their use is another example of a typeof dissemination instruction.

The use of the direct-connect programs make possible a variety ofcommercial implementations. For example, a Category B user could publisha portion of the information from the Category B data file 410, anadvertisement, or any other relevant material through any of a varietyof traditional media, such as a local newspaper, magazine, radio,television station or the like. The Category B user could then publishthe reference ID corresponding to the Category B data file 410 alongwith the other material. Category A users interested in the Category Bdata file 410 could then have access to all of the details of theCategory B data file 410 through use of the reference ID. Such a systemmore effectively targets particular marketspace audiences, such asindividuals in a particular geographic area, a particular interest, orthe like. Further, affiliates could take advantage of the system byproviding an affiliated system 30, promoting its existence, and thenusing it for additional advertising or promotion activities.

In a first preferred application of the data exchange process of thepresent invention, the Category A users are job-seekers, the Category Busers are job-offerors, each Category A data file 405 (referred toherein as an “eres”) describes the qualifications and preferences of anindividual job-seeker, and each Category B data file 410 (referred toherein as an (“erole”) describes a particular job and the preferredcandidate sought to fill that job. Further, in the first preferredapplication, the item preferences segment 406 of the eres 405 is a jobpreferences segment and the item description 407 of the eres 405 is aresume segment. Also in the first preferred application, the itempreferences segment 411 of the erole 410 is a candidate descriptionsegment and the item description segment 412 of the erole 410 is a jobdescription segment. Thus, the intelligent agent 415 continuallycompares the eres 405 registered in a particular marketspace to eacherole 410 registered in the same marketspace on the basis of the jobpreferences segment 406 of the eres 405 and the job description segment412 of the erole 410, and compares the eroles 410 registered in themarketspace to each eres 405 registered in the same marketspace on thebasis of the candidate description segment 411 in the eroles 410 and theresume segment 407 in the eres 405. In a preferred embodiment,marketspaces include geographic areas such as cities, career focusareas, and/or groups of users such as college students. Depending on therespective publishing instructions of the respective eres 405 and eroles410, a copy of each of the eroles 410 matching each eres 405 may beplaced into a corresponding erole pool 420 for review by the job-seekerwho owns the respective eres 405, and a copy of each of the eres 405matching each erole 410 may be placed into a corresponding eres pool 425for review by the job-offeror who owns the respective erole 410. Thejob-seekers may utilize a job-seeker interface 7000 to develop andpublish an eres 405 and to review a corresponding erole pool 420. Thejob-offerors may utilize a job-offeror interface 8000 to develop andpublish one or more erole 410 and to review one or more correspondingeres pools 425.

The Eres

As stated previously, in an exemplary embodiment, the Category A datafile 405 is an eres which includes a resume segment 407 and a jobpreference segment 406. The information in the resume segment 407 isorganized into a plurality of criteria which may be include, but is notlimited to, the eres owner's work experiences, the eres owner's academicexperiences, special training and accreditations received by the eresowner, tools in which the eres owner has proficiency, general skillspossessed by the eres owner, job related skills possessed by the eresowner, and the like. The information in the job preference segment 406is likewise organized into a plurality of criteria, which may include,but is not limited to, the eres owner's desired career focus areas, theeres owner's expected salary range, the eres owner's desired employmenttype, the eres owner's desired accountabilities, the maximum amount ofovernight travel tolerated by the eres owner, whether the eres ownerprefers to have flextime as an option, the organization type desired bythe eres owner, the type of ownership structure desired by the eresowner, the organization maturity desired by the eres owner, the worksite size desired by the eres owner; the size of the organizationdesired by the eres owner, or the like.

The respective information in the resume segment 407 and the jobpreference segment 406 may preferably be graphically presented to anyuser in a quasi-resume format which includes at least a primary level ofheadings for major categories, a secondary level of headings forsubcategories of the major categories, and a level of information itemsfor information categorized in the major categories or subcategories.Also, a common language architecture is preferably utilized tostandardize the information contained within the eres. In a first aspectof the common language architecture, the headings in both the primarylevel and the secondary level are uniform across all eres stored in theeres database 165. In a second aspect of the common languagearchitecture, the information items are selected to correspond directlyto information items utilized by eroles stored in the erole database170. The common language architecture will be more thoroughly explainedhereinafter.

Enhancement objects 430 suitable for use with the eres 405 in the firstpreferred application of the data exchange process of the presentinvention include a conventional resume object in which an eres owner'sconventional resume may be attached to his eres 405, a reference listobject in which a list of references may be attached to the eres 405, apast experiences and timeline object, a personal mission object, avirtual interview, a thinking styles assessment object, a workpreferences assessment object, a professional skills assessment objectand objects related to describing the individual more completely than ispossible through a resume alone through the use of personal photographs,documents, efiles and other multimedia tools. Some eres enhancementobjects 430 may be defined in such a way that they may be compared tocorresponding or reciprocal erole enhancement objects 435 eitherdirectly or through the use of the intelligent agent 415.

In an example of a past experiences and timeline object, an eres ownermay assess past work experiences to gain insight helpful in shapingfuture work direction. The experiences may be associated with a timelinewhich may be interactive. In an example of a personal mission object, aneres owner may develop his own mission statement, core values and corecompetencies. In an example of an interview object, an eres owner mayselect or define a series of questions that might typically be asked byan interviewer in an interview and then provide answers to thosequestions. The questions may be answered via an audio system, which maybe made available through a telephonic interface, a video system, or inwriting.

In an example of a thinking styles assessment object, an eres owner maygraphically or mathematically identify their own thinking and learningstyles. This information may then be compared with information aboutprospective jobs gathered through a reciprocal thinking stylesassessment object available to job-offerors. A thinking stylesassessment system suitable for use with the present invention is theHerrmann Thinking Styles assessment available from HerrmannInternational.

In an example of a work preferences assessment object, an eres owner mayidentify and measure their own personality characteristics with respectto the responsibilities and duties of various work situations. Thisinformation may then be compared with information about particular jobsgathered through a reciprocal preferred work style characteristicsassessment object available to job-offerors. A work preferencesassessment system suitable for use with the present invention is thePersonal Discovery Dimensions.R™. available from Resource Associates,Inc.

In an example of a professional skills assessment object, an eres ownermay better articulate their professional skills by characterizing aseries of transferable skills as either describing or not describingthemselves. The assessment may prompt the eres owner to sort all orportions of the series of skills in order of descriptiveness ofthemselves, or may enable the eres owner to rate each skill individuallyrelative to themselves. This information may then be compared withinformation about jobs gathered through a reciprocal professional skillsassessment object available to job-offerors. A professional skillsassessment system suitable for use with the present invention is theProfessional Skills assessment developed by Digital Discoveries, Inc. ofKnoxville, Tenn.

One eres 405 suitable for use with the present invention is the e-Resdeveloped by Digital Discoveries, Inc. of Knoxville, Tenn.

The Erole

As stated previously, in an exemplary embodiment, the Category B datafile 410 is an erole which includes a job description segment 412 and acandidate description segment 411. The information in the jobdescription segment 412 is organized into a plurality of criteria, whichmay include, but is not limited to, the eres owner's desired employmenttype, the maximum amount of overnight travel required for the job,career focus areas entailed in the job, the accountabilities inherent inthe job, the salary range offered for the job, whether the job issuitable for students and new graduates, the location of the job, thesize of the work site, the erole owner's organization type, the eroleowner's ownership structure, the maturity of the erole owner'sorganization, the size of the erole owner's organization, and the like.The information in the candidate description segment 411 is likewiseorganized into a plurality of criteria, which may include, but is notlimited to, the desired candidate's education and training, the desiredcandidate's knowledge and skills, the desired candidate's pastexperiences including career focus areas and accountabilities, and thelike.

The respective information in the job description segment 412 and thecandidate description segment 411 may preferably be graphicallypresented to any user in a quasi-resume format which includes at least aprimary level of headings for major categories, a secondary level ofheadings for subcategories of the major categories, and a level ofinformation items for information categorized in the major categories orsubcategories. Also, a common language architecture is preferablyutilized to standardize the information contained within the erole 410.In a first aspect of the common language architecture, the headings inboth the primary level and the secondary level are uniform across alleroles 410 stored in the erole database 170. In a second aspect of thecommon language architecture, the information items are selected tocorrespond directly to information items utilized by eres 405 stored inthe eres database 165. The common language architecture will be morethoroughly explained hereinafter.

Enhancement objects 435 suitable for use with the erole in the firstpreferred application of the data exchange process of the presentinvention may include, but are not limited to an interview object, a“day in the life” object, a organizational overview object, a groupculture object, a relationship map object, a work environment object, athinking styles assessment object, a preferred work stylecharacteristics assessment object, a professional skills assessmentobject or objects relating to the organization's products, history,facilities or the like. Some erole enhancement objects 435 may bedefined in such a way that they may be compared to corresponding orreciprocal eres enhancement objects 430 either directly or through theuse of the intelligent agent 415.

In an example of an interview object, an erole owner may select ordefine a series of questions that might typically be asked by aninterviewee in an interview and then provide answers to those questions.The questions may be answered via an audio system, which may be madeavailable through a telephonic interface, a video system, or in writing.In an example of a “day in the life” object, an erole owner may providea plurality of interactive, multimedia or other types of enhancements toconvey the work, the environment, the attitudes, the culture and thelike of the organization in order to describe the daily life of theorganization. In an example of an organizational overview object, anerole owner may describe the organization's structure, history,products, services and the like and present annual reports, handbooks,brochures and the like. In an example of a group culture object, anerole owner may describe the culture of the work group or department towhich the erole corresponds by assessing and graphically presenting avariety of characteristics. In an example of a relationship map object,an erole owner may graphically details the nature of the relationshipsbetween the erole and other parties both within and outside theorganization. The relationship map object could further include audio orwritten responses from the people with whom the job-seeker would beworking. In an example of a work environment object, an erole owner maydescribe typical work space settings, dress codes and the like.

In an example of a thinking styles assessment object, an erole owner maygraphically or mathematically identify thinking and learning stylesassociated with the responsibilities and duties of a particular job.This information may then be compared with information about job-seekersgathered through a reciprocal thinking styles assessment objectavailable to job-seekers. A thinking styles assessment system suitablefor use with the present invention is the Herrmann Thinking Stylesassessment available from Herrmann International.

In an example of a preferred work style characteristics assessmentobject, an erole owner may identify and measure the personalitycharacteristics associated with the responsibilities and duties of aparticular job. This information may then be compared with informationabout job-seekers gathered through a reciprocal workplace preferencesassessment object available to job-seekers. A preferred work stylecharacteristics assessment system suitable for use with the presentinvention is the Workplace Discovery Dimensions available from ResourceAssociates, Inc.

In an example of a professional skills assessment object, an erole ownermay articulate the profile of the target job-seeker by characterizing aseries of transferable skills as being applicable or not applicable tothe erole 410. The assessment may prompt the erole owner to sort all orportions of the series of skills in order of applicability to the erole410, or may enable the erole owner to rate each skill relative to theerole 410 individually This information may then be compared withinformation about job-seekers gathered through a reciprocal professionalskills assessment object available to job-seekers. A professional skillsassessment system suitable for use with the present invention is theProfessional Skills assessment developed by Digital Discoveries, Inc. ofKnoxville, Tenn.

One erole 410 suitable for use with the present invention is the e-Roledata file developed by Digital Discoveries, Inc. of Knoxville, Tenn.

Overview of the Eres Management Process

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate steps taken by the eres owner in conjunctionwith the job-seeker interface 7000 and other components of the softwaresystem 40 of the present invention in executing the eres managementprocess 5000. The steps shown represent only the general sequence ofsteps to be followed by an eres owner, and it should be clear that aneres owner may choose to carry out only a subset of the steps at a giventime, and that an eres owner may choose to carry out many of the stepsin a different sequence from that shown and described. The purpose ofintroducing the eres management process 5000 at this juncture is merelyto provide an overview of how a eres 405 are managed using the system ofthe present invention.

To utilize the software system 40, an eres owner first registers withthe system 40 through an affiliated system 30 at step 5005. The eresowner may accomplish this by, for example, directing a web browser onhis computer to a particular web page using a URL designated by theowner of the affiliated system 30. Eres owners who have not previouslyregistered may be asked to provide information such as a name, an emailaddress, or the like, and are issued an eres owner identifier. Each eresowner identifier is created to be unique across the entire system 20, sothat the same eres owner identifier may be used with regard to anyaffiliated system 30. In addition, each eres owner is allowed to selecta password for use in conjunction with the eres owner identifier inaccessing the rest of the affiliate's web site. Eres owners who havepreviously registered may access the system 40 merely by entering theeres owner identifier and password.

Once registered, an eres owner next proceeds at step 5010 to define aneres 405. A single eres 405 is associated with each eres owneridentifier, and only that identifier may be used to define or modifythat eres 405. Thus, an eres owner may access and edit his eres 405through any affiliated system 30. As described elsewhere, each eres 405includes both a resume segment 407 and a job preference segment 406,each of which includes a plurality of information organized intocriteria. The quasi-resume format may include a plurality of headingsfor categorizing the input information, and each information item may bequickly accessed by first accessing the appropriate heading. For ease inentry, all information contained under each heading may be fullyexpanded or collapsed to just a single heading.

Once the eres 405 has been defined, the eres owner next proceeds at step5015 to define the relative importance given by the eres owner to avariety of match factors related to criteria in both segments 406, 407of the eres 405. A match factor represents the relationship between acriteria in an eres 405 and a corresponding criteria in an erole 410.The eres owner may assess each factor related to the resume segment 407of the eres 405 on the basis of how important it is to the eres ownerthat a particular job characteristic defined in the erole 410 match acorresponding experience or skill listed in the resume segment 407 ofthe eres 405. In addition, the eres owner may assess each factor relatedto the job preference segment 406 of the eres 405 on the basis of howimportant it is to the eres owner that the erole 410 match thepreferences specified in the job preference segment 406 of the eres 405.If appropriate enhancement objects 430, 435 are utilized, the eres ownermay also define the relative importance of match factors associated withcharacteristics of the eres enhancement objects 430 on the basis of howimportant it is to the eres owner that it match characteristics of acorresponding or reciprocal erole enhancement object 435 associated withthe erole 410. Once established, the match factor preference settings417, also referred to as intelligent agent settings, are utilized by theintelligent agent 415 to match the eres 405 to eroles 410 in the eroledatabase 170.

Advantageously, the eres owner may control the importance to be giveneach factor in two ways. First, the eres owner may specify that onlyeroles 410 which satisfy particular factors be considered when matchingeroles 410 to the owner's eres 405. Preferably, an owner may make such aspecification for each factor individually by setting a “must” indicatorfor each desired factor. If the eres owner is willing to consider eroles410 which do not meet a particular factor, then the “must” indicator maybe deselected by the owner. Second, the eres owner may also set relativeweights to be accorded each factor by the software system 40 whenattempting to match eroles 410 stored in the system to the owner's eres405. When used in conjunction with the “must” feature, relative weightsmay logically be applied only to those factors which are not required tobe met by the owner. A suitable range of weights may be defined by oneof ordinary skill in the art, and may include, but is not limited to, agraphical sliding scale which is manipulable by the eres owner, a rangeof values from which the eres owner may select a suitable entry, aseries of text entries representing a plurality of choices, or the like.

Once the eres owner has defined the importance to be given to theplurality of match factors at step 5015, the eres owner next proceeds atstep 5020 to control the participation status of the eres 405 defined instep 5010. By controlling the participation status, the eres owner maydistribute his eres 405 to one or more owners of published eroles 410.In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of publishing programs areavailable to the erole owner, including at least one direct-connectionprogram and an affiliate publishing program. The effect of distributingan eres 405 to an erole 410 published in a direct-connection program isto distribute the eres 405 directly to the owner of the erole 410regardless of whether the content of the eres matches the content of theerole. In one direct-connection program, the eres owner identifies aparticular erole 410 to which he wishes his eres 405 to be distributedby entering a unique reference ID corresponding to the selected erole410. The use of the reference IDs and the reference ID program is morefully discussed elsewhere. In another direct-connection program, theeres owner searches for suitable eroles 410 by formulating an ad hocquery, and then selects from that list a particular erole 410 to whichhe wishes his eres 405 to be distributed. The use of ad hoc queries andthe ad hoc query program is more fully discussed elsewhere. The effectof distributing an eres 405 to an erole 410 published in an affiliatepublishing program is to permit the software system 40 to attempt tomatch those eroles 410 which are published with the eres owner's currentaffiliate to the eres 405 using the intelligent agent settings 417established by the eres owner in step 5015. It should be noted that thepublishing programs are not mutually exclusive, so at step 5020 the eresowner may distribute his eres 405 individually to any owner of an erole410 published in the reference ID program for which the eres owner hasthe corresponding reference ID, and the eres owner may furtherdistribute his eres simultaneously to all owners of matching eroles 410published in the current marketspace through the affiliate publishingprogram.

With regard to the affiliate publishing program, the software system 40may preferably include at least three participation status options. In afirst option, the eres 405 is non-participating. When an eres 405 isnon-participating, the eres is not distributed at all in the marketspacecorresponding to the current affiliate. By remaining non-participatingin all marketspaces, a user is thus able to create and store an eres 405in the system without being considered in the matching process. In asecond option, the eres 405 is selectively distributed. This enables anowner to view eroles 410 published with the eres owner's currentaffiliate which are matched to the owner's eres 405 by the matchingprocess, but prohibits erole owners from viewing the owner's eres 405unless the eres owner chooses to allow the erole owner to access hiseres 405. In a third option, the eres 405 is fully distributed. Thisenables an owner to view all eroles 410 published with the eres owner'scurrent affiliate which are matched to the owner's eres 405 by thematching process and enables the owner of each matching erole 410 toreciprocally view the owner's eres 405.

Also with regard to the affiliate publishing program, the softwaresystem 40 may further optionally default to a predeterminedparticipation status on the basis of how the eres owner chose to createhis eres 405, or according to some other predetermined criteria. Forexample, users who create an eres 405 in order to participate in adirect-connection program may default to the fully distributedparticipation status in the affiliate publishing program, so that notonly is the eres owner's eres 405 distributed to the selected erole oreroles 410 through the direct-connection program, but the eres 405 mayfurther be automatically distributed to all matching eroles 410 throughthe affiliate publishing program for one or more affiliate, while userswho create an eres 405 specifically in order to take advantage of theaffiliate publishing program may default to the selectively distributedparticipation status in that affiliate publishing program. Moreover, ifan eres owner creates an eres 405 to be distributed directly to aparticular selected erole 410 through a direct-connection program andthe eres 405 is further set, either intentionally or by default, to befully distributed to all matching eroles 410 in that marketspace, thenoptionally the system 20 may automatically grant exclusive access tothat eres 405, for some predetermined period of time, to the owner ofthe selected erole 410 before the eres 405 is published through theaffiliate publishing program. Also optionally, however, the eres ownermay be given the opportunity to override that exclusive access by eitherdistributing the eres 405 to another erole 410 through adirect-connection program or by manually adjusting the participationstatus in the affiliate publishing program.

Further steps carried out by the eres owner are dependent upon whetherat step 5025 the eres 405 is to be distributed to the owners of any ofthe eroles 410 which are published within one or more publishingprogram, or kept non-participating. If the eres 405 is to be keptnon-participating, then the eres owner may return to step 5010 to usethe software system 40 to modify the eres 405, modify the importance tobe given to the match factors, or modify the participation status.

On the other hand, if at step 5025 the eres 405 is to be distributed tothe owners of one or more eroles 410, then further steps are nextdependent on which programs are utilized to distribute the eres 405. Asis more fully discussed elsewhere, if an erole 410 is published throughthe reference ID program, any type of user may view the erole 410 merelyby entering, if known, its corresponding reference ID. Also, if an erole410 is published through the ad hoc query program, any type of user mayview the erole 410 merely by selecting the erole 410 from a query matchlist created as the result of an appropriately-formulated query. If andonly if the user is an eres owner, however, then he may further wish todistribute his eres 405 directly to the erole 410 using thedirect-connection mechanism of either the reference ID program or the adhoc query program. If at step 5026 the eres 405 was distributed directlyto any eroles 410 using the reference ID for that erole 410 or byselecting any eroles 410 from a query match list, and if, as a result,the eres owner does, in fact, distribute the eres 405 to one or moreeroles 410, then at step 5027 the software system 40 is used toidentify, without eliminating, all such eroles 410 which do not meetthose match factors for which the eres owner has set the “must”indicator, and also to identify, without eliminating, all eroles 410which have match factors that are not met by the eres 405 and for whichthe “must” indicator has been set. Further, at step 5028 each such erole410 is placed in the eres owner's reference ID pool 420 or otherdirect-connection pool 420 and scored according to how closely itmatches the eres 405, taking into consideration the weights given thevarious match factors by the eres.

Although not illustrated, it should be obvious that the software system40 may optionally allow users to choose at step 5020 whether to allowtheir eres 405 to participate by being queried by erole owners. Thiscould be implemented by adding an additional step to determine if anyeroles 410 had been published or distributed to the eres 405. An eroleowner could have accomplished this by formulating a query, selecting theeres from the resulting query match list and then choosing to responddirectly to the eres 405. If so, then the software system 40 wouldlikewise be used to identify, without eliminating, all such eroles 410which do not meet those match factors for which the eres owner has setthe “must” indicator, and also to identify, without eliminating, alleroles 410 which have match factors that are not met by the eres 405 andfor which the “must” indicator has been set. Further, each such erole410 would be placed in a eres owner's reference ID pool 420 or otherdirect-connection pool 420 and scored according to how closely itmatches the eres 405, taking into consideration the weights given thevarious match factors by the eres 405.

Whether or not at step 5026 the eres 405 is distributed directly to anyeroles 410 through the reference ID program or the ad hoc query program(or, if implemented, whether or not any eroles 410 are published ordistributed directly to the eres 405 through the ad hoc query program),further steps are next dependent at step 5029 on whether the eres 405 isto be distributed to matching eroles 410 which are participating in themarketspace corresponding to the current affiliated system 30. If not,then the eres owner may proceed directly to view the eroles 410 in adirection-connection erole pool 420 at step 5080. However, if the eres405 is to be distributed to the owners of eroles 410 published in thecurrent affiliated system 30, then the software system 40 is used tomatch and score eroles at steps 5030-5075, as next described.

Beginning at step 5040, the software system 40 identifies the firstmatching erole 410 and then proceeds at step 5045 to examine theparticipation status of the identified erole 410 in the affiliatedsystem 30. If at step 5050 it is determined that the erole owner haschosen to automatically publish the identified erole 410 to all matchingeres 405, then the erole 410 is included in the current affiliate'smatching erole pool 420 and at step 5060 the software system 40 proceedsto determine whether there are any more matching eroles 410 to consider.On the other hand, if at step 5050 it is determined that the erole ownerhas not chosen to automatically publish the identified erole 410 in theaffiliated system 30, then at step 5065 the software system 40determines whether the eres 405 has been fully distributed. If the eres405 is not fully distributed, then the identified erole 410 iseliminated from the eres owner's current affiliate matching erole pool420 at step 5056 and the software system 40 proceeds at step 5060 todetermine whether there are any more matching eroles 410 to consider. Onthe other hand, if at step 5065 the eres 405 is fully distributed, thenthe software system 40 next proceeds at step 5070 to determine whetherthe owner of the identified erole 410 has chosen to publish the erole410 to the eres 405. If so, the identified erole 410 is included in thecurrent affiliate's matching erole pool 420 and at step 5060 thesoftware system 40 proceeds to determine whether there are any morematching eroles 410 to consider. However, if the owner of the erole 410has not chosen to publish the erole 410 to the eres 405, then theidentified erole 410 is eliminated from the pool 420 at step 5056 andthe software system 40 next proceeds at step 5060 to determine whetherthere are any more matching eroles 420 to consider.

If at step 5060 the software system 40 determines that there are othermatching eroles 410 to consider, then at step 5075 the software system40 identifies the next matching erole 410 and returns to step 5045 toexamine the affiliate participation status of the identified erole 410.On the other hand, if at step 5060 the software system 40 determinesthat there are no other matching eroles 410 to consider, then at step5030 the software system 40 examines eroles 410 in the currentmarketspace and eliminates from further consideration all eroles 410which do not meet those match factors for which the eres owner has setthe “must” indicator, and also eliminating all eroles having matchfactors which are not met by the eres 405 and for which the “must”indicator has been set. Next, at step 5035, the software system 40scores each remaining erole 410 according to how closely it matches theeres 405, taking into consideration the weights given the various matchfactors by the eres owner. After scoring each remaining erole 410, thecurrent affiliate's matching erole pool is complete and operationcontinues at step 5080.

At step 5080, the eres owner proceeds to view all of the eroles 410which are in the respective erole pools 420, one pool at a time. Withineach erole pool 420, the included eroles 410 may be organized intotiers. In a direct-connection erole pool 420, those eroles 410 which didnot meet “must” criteria are preferably placed in a separate tier fromthose eroles 410 which did. Finally, at step 5085, the eres owner mayutilize the system to organize and analyze the eroles 410 which are inthe erole pools 420 until the eres owner chooses at step 5090 to exitthe system.

Overview of the Erole Management Process

At any time before, during or after the operation of the eres managementprocess 5000, a plurality of erole owners may also utilize the softwaresystem 40 to manage their respective eroles 410. FIGS. 6A and 6Billustrate steps taken by an erole owner in conjunction with thejob-offeror interface 8000 and other components of the software system40 of the present invention in executing the erole management process6000. The steps shown represent only the general sequence of steps to befollowed by an erole owner, and it should be clear that an erole ownermay choose to carry out only a subset of the steps at a given time, andthat an erole owner may choose to carry out many of the steps in adifferent sequence from that shown and described. The purpose ofintroducing the erole management process 5000 at this juncture is merelyto provide an overview of how eroles 410 are managed using the system ofthe present invention.

To utilize the software system 40, an erole owner first registers withthe system 20 through an affiliated system 30 at step 6005. The eroleowner may accomplish this by, for example, directing a web browser onhis computer to a particular web page designated by the owner of theaffiliated system 30. Erole owners who have not previously registeredmay be asked to provide information such as a name, an organizationname, an email address, and the like, and are issued an erole owneridentifier. Each erole owner identifier is created to be unique acrossthe entire system 20, so that the same erole owner identifier may beused with regard to any affiliated system 30. In addition, each eroleowner is allowed to select a password for use in conjunction with theorganization identifier in accessing the rest of the affiliate's website. Erole owners who have previously registered may access the system40 merely by entering the erole owner identifier and password.

Once registered, an erole owner next proceeds at step 6010 to select anerole 410 for further operations. An erole owner may define multipleeroles 410, each of which represents a particular job opening the eroleowner wishes to fill. Each erole 410 is associated with only one eroleowner identifier, and a user is only permitted to modify eroles 410associated with the user's erole owner identifier. Each erole 410 mayfurther be identified by an erole identifier, which may incorporate theerole owner identifier. Because each erole identifier is unique, anerole owner may access and edit his eroles 410 through any affiliatedsystem 30. In selecting an erole 410 at step 6010, the erole owner maychoose to define a new erole 410 or to update an existing erole 410. Ineither case, the erole owner next proceeds at step 6015 to edit theselected erole 410.

As described elsewhere, each erole 410 includes a job descriptionsegment 412 and a candidate description segment 411, each of whichcontains a plurality of information. Once at least part of the jobdescription and candidate description segments 412, 411 of the erole 410have been satisfactorily defined or updated, respectively, the eroleowner may then define, as part of the editing process of step 6015, therelative importance given by the erole owner to a variety of matchfactors related to other portions of the erole 410. As statedpreviously, a match factor represents the relationship between acriteria in an eres 405 and a corresponding criteria in an erole 410.The erole owner may assess each factor related to the job descriptionsegment 412 of the erole 410 on the basis of how important it is to theerole owner that an eres 405 express a preference for a particular jobcharacteristic defined in the erole 410. In addition, the erole ownermay assess each factor related to the candidate description segment 411of the erole 410 on the basis of how important it is to the erole ownerthat a particular candidate characteristic defined in the eres 405 matchthe candidate description segment 411 of the erole 410. If appropriateenhancement objects 430, 435 are utilized, the erole owner may alsodefine the relative importance of match factors associated withcharacteristics of the erole enhancement objects 435 on the basis of howimportant it is to the erole owner that it match characteristics of acorresponding or reciprocal eres enhancement object 430 associated withthe eres 405. Once established, the match factor preference settings416, also referred to as intelligent agent settings, are utilized by theintelligent agent 415 to match the erole 410 to eres 405 in the eresdatabase 165.

Advantageously, the erole owner may control the importance to be giveneach match factor in two ways. First, the erole owner may specify thatonly eres 405 which satisfy particular factors be considered whenmatching eres 405 to the owner's erole 410. Preferably, an owner maymake such a specification for each factor individually by setting a“must” indicator for each desired factor. If the erole owner is willingto consider eres 405 which do not meet a particular factor, then the“must” indicator may be deselected by the owner. Second, the erole ownermay also set relative weights to be accorded each factor by the softwaresystem 40 when attempting to match eres 405 stored in the system 20 tothe owner's erole 410. When used in conjunction with the “must” feature,relative weights may logically be applied only to those factors whichare not required to be met by the owner. A suitable range of weights maybe defined by one of ordinary skill in the art, and may include, but isnot limited to, a graphical sliding scale which is manipulable by theerole owner, a range of values from which the erole owner may select asuitable entry, a series of text entries representing a plurality ofchoices, or the like.

Once the erole owner has finished editing the job description segment412, the candidate description segment 411, and the match factorpreferences of the selected erole at step 6015, the erole owner has theoption at step 6017 of returning to step 6010 to select another erole410 to be defined or updated at step 6015. It should be noted thatalthough the process of assessing match factors and establishing theintelligent agent settings 416 has been described as being part of theprocess of editing the erole 410, it should be obvious that the processof assessing the match factors and establishing the intelligent agentsettings 416 could alternatively be understood as a separate step orprocess which is distinct from the remainder of the erole edit process.

If at step 6017 the erole owner has completed the process of definingand updating eroles 410 for his organization, the erole owner nextproceeds to steps 6018-6020 to set the participation status for each ofthe organization's eroles 410. Beginning at step 6018, the owner mayselect an erole 410 for the purpose of updating the erole'sparticipation status. Preferably, the owner may select the desired erole410 from a list of all of the organization's eroles 410. The list mayalso include the current participation status of each erole 410 in oneor more publishing programs. Having selected an erole 410, the eroleowner next proceeds to step 6020 to control the participation status ofthe erole 410 selected in step 6018. In a preferred embodiment, aplurality of publishing programs are available to the erole owner,including at least one direct-connection program and an affiliatepublishing program. The effect of publishing the erole 410 in adirect-connection program is to permit job-seekers to immediately viewthe erole 410 regardless of whether the content of the eres 405 matchesthe content of the erole 410. In one direct-connection program, the eresowner identifies a particular erole 410 to which he wishes his eres 405to be distributed by entering a unique reference ID corresponding to theselected erole 410 into any affiliate's job-seeker interface 7000 asdescribed previously. In another direct-connection program, the eresowner searches for suitable eroles 410 by formulating an ad hoc query,and then selects from that list a particular erole 410 to which hewishes his eres 405 to be distributed. The use of ad hoc queries and thead hoc query program is more fully discussed elsewhere. The effect ofpublishing the erole 410 in an affiliate publishing program is to permitthe software system 40 to attempt to match those eres 405 which havebeen distributed in the owner's current affiliate to the selected erole410 using the intelligent agent settings 416 established by the eroleowner in step 6015. It should be noted that the publishing programs arenot mutually exclusive, so at step 6020 the erole owner may publish theselected erole 410 through both the reference ID program and theaffiliate publishing program.

The affiliate publishing program may preferably include at least fourparticipation status options. In a first option, the erole 410 does notparticipate at all. When an erole 410 is non-participating, the erole410 is not published at all in the marketspace corresponding to thecurrent affiliate. By remaining non-participating in all marketspaces, auser may create and store eroles 410 in the system 20 without beingconsidered in the matching process. In a second option, the erole 410 issubscribed. This enables an owner to view eres 405 which are distributedin the erole owner's current marketspace and which are matched with theselected erole 410 by the matching process, but prohibits eres ownersfrom viewing the designated erole 410 at all. Optionally, the eroleowner may be prevented from viewing contact information contained withinor associated with the eres 405 in order to prevent owners ofunpublished eroles 410 from contacting eres owners. In a third option,the erole 410 is selectively published. This enables an owner to vieweres 405 which are distributed with the erole owner's currentmarketspace and which are matched with the selected erole 410 by thematching process, but prohibits eres owners from viewing the designatederole 410 unless the erole owner chooses to allow the eres owner toaccess the erole 410. In a fourth option, the erole 410 is fullypublished. This enables an erole owner to view all matching eres 405which are distributed with the current affiliated system 30 and whichare either automatically or selectively published to him, and toautomatically publish the erole 410 to the owners of all matching eres405.

Further steps carried out by the erole owner are dependent on whether atstep 6025 the erole 410 is to be published through any of the publishingprograms or not. If the erole 410 is to be kept non-participating, thenthe erole owner has the option at step 6031 of setting the participationstatus of a different erole 410. If the owner wishes to set theparticipation status of a different erole 410, then the erole owner mayreturn to step 6018 to select another erole 410. Otherwise, the eroleowner proceeds next to steps 6077-6090 to view the eres 405 associatedwith each erole 410.

On the other hand, if at step 6025 the erole 410 is to be publishedthrough the reference ID program, or in the current marketspace throughthe affiliate publishing program, then further steps are next dependenton which particular programs are utilized to publish the erole 410. Asis more fully discussed elsewhere, if an erole 410 is published throughthe reference ID program, any type of user may view the erole 410 merelyby entering, if known, its corresponding reference ID. Alternatively, ifan erole 410 is published through the ad hoc query program, any type ofuser may view the erole 410 merely by selecting the erole 410 from aquery match list created as the result of an appropriately-formulatedquery. Users who are eres owners may further wish to distribute theireres 405 to the erole 410 using the direct-connection mechanism ofeither the reference ID program or the ad hoc query program. At step6026, if the erole 410 is currently or ever was published through thereference ID program or the ad hoc query program, and if, as a result,any eres 405 have, in fact, been distributed to the erole 410 througheither program, then at step 6027, the software system 40 may be used toexamine all eres 405 which were received through either program and toidentify, without eliminating, those eres 405 which have match factorsfor which the erole owner has set the “must” indicator, and also toidentify, without eliminating, those eres 405 which have match factorsthat are not met by the selected erole 410. Further, at step 6028 eachsuch eres 405 is placed in the reference ID eres pool 425 for thatparticular erole 410 and scored according to how closely it matches theerole 410, taking into consideration the weights given the various matchfactors by the erole 410.

Although not illustrated, it should be obvious that the software system40 may optionally allow users to choose at step 6020 whether to allowtheir erole 410 to participate by being queried by eres owners. Thiscould be implemented by adding an additional step to determine if anyeres 405 had been distributed to the erole 410. An eres owner could haveaccomplished this by formulating a query, selecting the erole 410 fromthe resulting query match list and then choosing to respond directly tothe erole 410. If so, then the software system 40 would likewise be usedto identify, without eliminating, all such eres 405 which do not meetthose match factors for which the erole owner has set the “must”indicator, and also to identify, without eliminating, all eres 405 whichhave match factors that are not met by the erole 410 and for which the“must” indicator has been set. Further, each such eres 405 would beplaced in a erole owner's reference ID pool 425 or otherdirect-connection pool 425 and scored according to how closely itmatches the erole 410, taking into consideration the weights given thevarious match factors by the erole 410.

Whether or not at step 6026 the erole 410 is published through eitherthe reference ID program or the ad hoc query program, and whether or notany eres 405 are distributed to the erole 410 as a result (or, ifimplemented, whether or not the erole 410 is published or distributeddirectly to any eres 405 through the ad hoc query program), furthersteps are next dependent at step 6029 on whether the erole 410 is to bepublished to matching eres 405 distributed in the marketspacecorresponding to the current affiliated system 30. If not, then theerole owner may return at step 6031 to select a different erole 410 atstep 6018. However, if the erole 410 is to be published to owners oferes distributed within the current marketspace, then the softwaresystem 40 is used to match and score eres at steps 6030-6075, as nextdescribed.

Beginning at step 6040, the software system 40 identifies the firstmatching eres 405 and then proceeds at step 6045 to examine theaffiliate publishing status of the identified eres 405. If at step 6050it is determined that the eres owner has chosen to automaticallydistribute the identified eres 405 to all matching eroles 410, then theeres 405 is included in the current affiliate's matching eres pool 425and at step 6060 the software system 40 proceeds to determine whetherthere are any more matching eres 405 to consider. On the other hand, ifat step 6050 it is determined that the eres owner has not chosen tofully distribute the identified eres 405, then at step 6065 the softwaresystem 40 determines whether the erole 410 has been automaticallypublished. If the erole 410 is not automatically published, then theidentified eres 405 is eliminated from the current affiliate eres pool425, and the software system 40 proceeds at step 6060 to determinewhether there are any more matching eres 405 to consider. On the otherhand, if at step 6065 the erole 410 is automatically published, then thesoftware system 40 next proceeds at step 6070 to determine whether theowner of the identified eres 405 has chosen to distribute the eres 405to the erole 410. If so, the identified eres 405 is included in thecurrent affiliate's matching eres pool 425, and at step 6060 thesoftware system 40 determines whether there are any more matching eres405 to consider. However, if the owner of the eres 405 has not chosen todistribute the eres 405 to the erole 410, then the identified eres 405is eliminated from the pool 425 at step 6056 and the software system 40proceeds at step 6060 to determine whether there are any more matchingeres 405 to consider.

If at step 6060 the software system 40 determines that there are othermatching eres 405 to consider, then the software system 40 at step 6075identifies the next matching eres 405 and returns to step 6045 toexamine the affiliate publishing status of the identified eres 405. Onthe other hand, if at step 6060 the software system 40 determines thatthere are no other matching eres 405 to consider, then at step 6030 thesoftware system 40 examines eres 405 in the current marketspace andeliminates from further consideration all eres 405 which do not meetthose match factors for which the erole owner has set the “must”indicator, and also eliminating all eres 405 having match factors whichare not met by the erole 410 and for which the “must” indicator has beenset. Next, at step 6035, the software system 40 scores each remainingeres 405 according to how closely it matches the erole 410, taking intoconsideration the weights given the various match factors by the eroleowner. After each remaining eres 405 is scored, then the owner onceagain has the option at step 6031 of returning to step 6018 to set thepublication status of a different erole 410.

If the owner chooses not to select another erole 410, then the eroleowner proceeds next to view, organize and analyze the eres 405associated with each erole 410 to steps 6077-6090. Beginning at step6077, the owner may review, for each publishing program, a list of allof the eroles 410 which have been published with the respectivepublishing program. Because each erole 410 may preferably be publishedwith more than one publishing program, an erole 410 may appear on morethan one of the lists. At step 6078, the owner selects one of the eroles410 on one of the lists for the purpose of viewing the eres 405associated with that erole 410 through its respective publishingprogram. At step 6080, the erole owner proceeds to view all of the eres405 which have are included in the respective eres pools 425, one poolat a time. Within each eres pool 425, the included eres 405 may beorganized into tiers In a direct-connection eres pool 425, those eres405 which did not meet “must” criteria are preferably placed in aseparate tier from those eres 405 which did. Next, at step 6085, theerole owner may utilize the software system 40 to organize and analyzethe eres 405 which are in the respective eres pools 425 until the eroleowner chooses at step 6090 to either select a different erole 410 orexit the software system 40. At step 6090, if the erole owner chooses toselect a different erole 410, then the owner may return to step 6078 toselect a different erole 410. On the other hand, if at step 6092 theowner chooses not to select an erole 410, then the owner may exit thesoftware system 40.

The Job-Seeker Interface

FIGS. 7A-7C and 8A-8C are state diagrams of the job-seeker interface7000 and job-offeror interface 8000, respectively, of the system of thepresent invention. The job-seeker interface 7000 and job-offerorinterface 8000 are those parts of the system which allow users to createand store eres 405 and eroles 410, respectively; to interact with theintelligent agent 415; and to view and analyze erole pools 420 and erespools 425, respectively as described with respect to the eres managementprocess 5000 illustrated in FIGS. SA-SB and the erole management process6000 illustrated in FIGS. 6A-6C, respectively. In the diagrams, eachcircle represents a state in which a user has one or more options foreither performing an action within the current state or for proceedingto another state. If the user chooses to perform an action within hiscurrent state, the action is performed and the user remains in thecurrent state. If the user chooses to proceed to another state, asrepresented by an arrow leading from the current state to the new state,the user is transferred from his current state to the chosen state, anda new set of options becomes available to the user. A description of thestates of a preferred embodiment of the job-seeker interface 7000 andtheir interrelationship is described next. In the preferred embodiment,each state could represent one or more web page, one or more screen in agraphical user interface (GUI), or the like.

As shown, a user of either the job-seeker interface 7000 or thejob-offeror interface 8000 first enters an affiliate introduction state7001. The affiliate introduction state 7001 may serve as an introductionto the system of the present invention to both job-seeker users andjob-offeror users and functions as a common entry point for either usertype. However, the meaningful options which are available to the user ataffiliate introduction state 7001 may depend on the type of user. Asdescribed previously, in a preferred embodiment, eroles 410 representingjob openings may be made available to job-seekers in at least two ways.First, job-seekers and other users may view a particular erole 410directly merely by specifying a unique reference ID which corresponds tothe desired job opening or by selecting the erole 410 from a listgenerated by querying the database 170. Second, any job-seeker wishingto develop his own eres 405 in order to utilize the matchingcapabilities of the software system 40 or to respond to an erole 410must identify himself to the software system 40 by entering acorresponding identifier into the software system 40.

Generally, any user may access a particular erole 410 directly if theyknow the reference ID for that erole 410. In a preferred embodiment,however, reference IDs are more likely to be utilized by job-seekerusers to access a particular erole 410 advertised elsewhere than by ajob-offeror user. Alternatively, any user may query the erole database170 to identify eroles 410 having particular criteria, and may thenaccess particular eroles 410 directly by selecting them from the querymatch list. In addition, job-seeker users and job-offeror users may bothlog into their respective system interfaces 7000, 8000 through theaffiliate introduction state 7001. Thus, in the affiliate introductionstate 7001, the interfaces preferably provide users with both anefficient method of logging into the system and methods for accessing anerole 410 using a reference ID or via an appropriate query.

If the user wishes to access an erole 410 using a reference ID, then thejob-seeker interface 7000 proceeds to an individual introduction state7002. In the individual introduction state 7002, the user has theoptions of viewing graphically displayed information about the system20, logging into the job-seeker interface 7000 of the system, entering areference ID or formulating a query. If the user chooses to formulate aquery, then the job-seeker interface 7000 proceeds to a query managerstate 7032, whereupon the user may formulate the query itself The querycomprises a series of criteria selected by the user from the commonlanguage architecture. The contents of the query may then be matcheddirectly against all the eroles 410 stored in the erole database 170 bycomparing each selected criteria to the corresponding criteria in therespective eroles 410. Those eroles 410 which include all of theselected criteria are then presented to the user in a query match listin a query match list state 7033. If the user selects one of the eroles410 from the query match list, then the job-seeker interface 7000proceeds to a view/respond erole state 7014 to graphically display thecorresponding erole 410.

Similarly, if the user enters a reference ID, then the job-seekerinterface 7000 likewise proceeds to the view/respond erole state 7014 tographically display the corresponding erole 410. The reference ID itselfmay be a random, alphanumerical code, or it may incorporate all or partof the erole identifier or the erole owner identifier which correspondsto each respective erole 410. Alternatively, the reference ID may itselfbe URL which may be entered either directly into a user's web browser ormay be entered into an interface.

Once an erole 410 is displayed in the view/respond erole state 7014, theuser may choose to respond to the erole 410. If the user chooses torespond to the erole 410, then the job-seeker interface 7000 proceeds toa generate response/register state 7030. In the generateresponse/register state 7030, if the user is already registered and hasalready generated an eres 405, then the user may send thepreviously-stored eres 405 to the erole's reference ID pool 425 or otherdirect-connection pool 425 merely by providing the job-seeker interface7000 with the user's identifier and password. Upon successful completionof this operation, the software system 40 may generate a confirmationmessage, and the job-seeker interface 7000 proceeds to a job-seeker homestate 7003. However, if in the generate response/register state 7030 theuser has not yet registered with the software system 40, the user hasthe option of registering with the software system 40 through thecurrent affiliated system 30 in order to generate an abbreviated eres405 which may then be sent to the erole's reference ID pool 425 or otherdirect-connection pool 425. The job-seeker interface 7000 may prompt theuser to enter sufficient information about the user to generate arudimentary eres 405. When the necessary information has been entered,the software system 40 proceeds to generate an eres 405 and forward thenewly-completed eres 405 to the erole's reference ID pool 425 or otherdirect-connection pool 425. Upon successful completion of thisoperation, the software system 40 may generate a confirmation message,and the job-seeker interface 7000 proceeds to a job-seeker home state7003.

On the other hand, if at the affiliate introduction state 7001 the userchooses to log in to the job-seeker interface 7000, then the job-seekerinterface 7000 proceeds directly to the job-seeker home state 7003. In apreferred embodiment, the system interface which is provided to the useris determined on the basis of the owner identifier which is entered, butit should be clear that alternatively a user could manually select thedesired interface from the affiliate introduction state 7001, ordifferent affiliate introduction states 7001 could be provided forjob-seeker and job-offeror users, respectively. In the job-seeker homestate 7003, the user has the options of managing his eres 405, managingthe intelligent agent 415 for his eres 405, managing his erole pools420, entering a reference ID or generating an ad hoc query. If the userchooses to manage his eres 405, then the user proceeds to the ereseditor state 7004. As described previously, each job-seeker owner ispreferably allowed to maintain a single eres 405 in the eres database165. In the eres editor state 7004 the owner is able to choose toinitiate a number of actions related to his eres 405, includingcreating, editing and viewing his eres 405; creating and editingenhancement objects 430 and adding them to the eres 405; creating aunique web site derived from the job-seeker contextual representation401, and the like.

If the user wishes to create or edit his eres 405, the user may utilizean editor interface which may be provided directly within the ereseditor state 7004. The editor interface facilitates the entry of datainto the eres 405 by prompting the user to enter appropriate informationand data directly into the system 20 in an entry format corresponding tothe quasi-resume format described previously. The data entry processalso makes use of the common language architecture. The common languagearchitecture utilizes a variety of mechanisms to standardize the data inthe respective data files 405, 410 and to standardize the format inwhich that data is entered, stored and displayed. This standardizationenables data files 405, 410 to be more systematically reviewed, andfurther allows the intelligent agent 415 to more precisely compareCategory A data files 405 to Category B data files 410 by reciprocallycomparing specific data entries in each Category A data file 405 tocorresponding data entries in each Category B data file 410 and bycomparing specific data entries in each Category B data file 410 tocorresponding data entries in each Category A data file 405.

The job-seeker interface 7000 includes many types of standardizationmechanisms which prompt users to enter data into their respective eres405 in an optimal format for comparison to eroles 410 by the intelligentagent 415. By utilizing a plurality of these standardization mechanisms,the quantity of “freeform” data which is entered by users is minimized,and the job preference and resume characteristics described by the datamay be more easily compared to the job and preferred candidatecharacteristics described by the data in eroles 410.

In a first type of a standardization mechanism, an eres owner may assigna “yes” or “no” value to a particular characteristic which eitherdescribes himself or the job he seeks. This may be implemented bygraphically presenting a characteristic to the user and allowing theuser to indicate that the characteristic does apply by checking a box orthat it does not apply by leaving the box unmarked. In an example ofthis first type of standardization mechanism, users may be prompted toindicate whether or not they are interested in a job for which“flextime” is permitted by marking or leaving unmarked a boxcorresponding to a question directed thereto.

In a second type of a standardization mechanism, an eres owner mayselect the characteristic which best describes either himself or the jobhe seeks from a list of possible characteristics. This may beimplemented by graphically presenting a plurality of characteristics tothe user and allowing the user to indicate which characteristic bestapplies by checking the box corresponding to that characteristic, or byselecting that characteristic from a selectable list. In an example ofthis second type of standardization mechanism, users may be prompted toindicate the highest level of academic achievement reached by selectingfrom a list of “high school,” “some college,” “associate's degree,”“bachelor's degree,” “master's degree” and “doctorate degree.”

In a third type of a standardization mechanism, an eres owner may selectone or more characteristic which either describes himself or the job heseeks from a set of possible characteristics. This may be implemented bygraphically presenting a plurality of characteristics to the user andallowing the user to indicate which, if any, of the characteristicsapply by checking boxes corresponding to the respective characteristics.In an example of this third type of standardization mechanism, users maybe prompted to indicate whether they are interested in working fulltime, part time, under contract or as a consultant, as a co-operativestudent or as an intern, and the users may check as many boxes as theywish.

In a fourth type of a standardization mechanism, an eres owner mayselect a numerical range of values within which a particularcharacteristic, describing either himself or the job he seeks, lies.This may be implemented by prompting the user to enter one or twonumerical values corresponding to one or both of a minimum and maximum.If only one value is entered, the range may be determined implicitly aseither all values greater than the entered value or all values betweenzero and the entered value. In one example of this fourth type ofstandardization mechanism, users may be prompted to enter their desiredsalary range, or at least a minimum salary expected. In another exampleof this third type of standardization mechanism, users may be promptedto enter the maximum amount of overnight travel tolerated.

In a fifth type of standardization mechanism, an eres owner may select acharacteristic which either describes himself or the job he seeks from alibrary of characteristics. This may be implemented by providing amulti-tiered collection of choices from which the user may first choosea category and then choose from the sub-categories associated with thatcategory and so on until the user is presented with a set of choices. Insome cases, the user may repeat this selection process in order toselect multiple characteristics. In an example of this fifth type ofstandardization mechanism, a user may select a “career focus area” whichdescribes the type of work sought by first selecting a industry typefrom a collection of categories such as “Agriculture & Forestry” and“Legal Services,” and if “Legal Services” is chosen, choosing from acollection of choices such as “Clerical,” “Judicial,” “Legal Practice,”“Legal Services,” “Paralegal” and “Legal-Other.” It should be obviousthat additional tiers of sub-categories could be included in between theindustry type level and the characteristic level.

For those types of data for which standardized answers are not feasibleor desirable, further standardization may also be provided by providinga uniform system of headers under which such “freeform” data may beentered. This may be implemented by prompting the user to enterinformation in response to specific categories of data. For example, theuser may be prompted to provide a job title for each job in which theuser was previously employed, or to enter a summary of tasks performedthere. Thus, although the data itself is “freeform,” each eres in theeres database 165 may be organized into a standard format to make manualreview easier.

From the eres editor state 7004, the owner may also choose to view hiscurrent eres 405, to create or edit a unique job-seeker derivative website, to manage eres enhancement objects 430, to return to thejob-seeker home state 7003, to manage the intelligent agent 415 for hiseres 405, or to manage his erole pools 420. If the owner chooses to viewhis current eres 405, then the interface 7000 graphically presents thecurrent eres 405 to the owner at a view eres state 7005. If the ownerchooses to create or edit a personal job-seeker derivative web site,then the job-seeker interface 7000 proceeds to determine whether theowner has already enabled such a web site. If so, then the interface7000 proceeds directly to a derivative web site account state 7008, fromwhich the owner may manage his personal derivative web site account. Onthe other hand, if no such web site has yet been enabled, then theinterface proceeds to a personal derivative web site introduction state7006. In the personal derivative web site introduction state 7006, theinterface 7000 may introduce the owner to the concept and purpose of thepersonal job-seeker derivative web site and may illustrate the conceptwith a graphical or multimedia example. The job-seeker derivative website is a set of data extracted from the eres 405, any enhancementobjects 430 associated with the eres 405 and any other portions of thejob-seeker contextual representation 401, including any graphical ormultimedia components of the contextual representation 401. Althoughdescribed herein as a web site, it should be noted that any type of datapackage may instead be utilized, including, for example, a set of fileswhich may be downloaded onto a disk and sent directly to a job-offeror.The data included in the derivative web site may be all or only aportion of the data contained in the contextual representation 401, andthe format of the data may take on any suitable form, including theformat utilized by the software system 40 to display the eres 405 andany associated enhancement objects 430 The software system 40 providesthe eres owner with a unique URL which may be utilized by any internetuser to view the derivative web site. Only the owner of the eres 405 maymanage the eres' corresponding web site. A system of personal derivativeweb sites suitable for use with the present invention is the SeeMesystem of derivative web sites developed by Digital Discoveries, Inc. ofKnoxville, Tenn.

From the personal derivative web site introduction state 7006, the ownermay choose to request such a web site or to leave the personalderivative web site introduction state 7006 without so requesting. Ifthe owner chooses to request a personal web site, the interface 7000 maypresent an order confirmation to the owner before proceeding to aderivative web site account state 7008. From the derivative web siteaccount state 7008, the owner may access his personal derivative website directly; extend the period of time for which the web site isactive; enable or disable password protection for the web site; add,edit or remove a personal greeting for the web site, or the like. Theowner may also choose to edit his current eres 405 in the eres editorstate 7004, to manage eres enhancements, to return to the job-seekerhome state 7003, to manage the intelligent agent 415 for his eres 405,or to manage his erole pools 420.

Returning to the eres editor state 7004, if the owner chooses to manageeres enhancement objects, the job-seeker interface 7000 proceeds to anenhancement management state 7009. The enhancement management state 7009may introduce enhancement objects 430 which are part of thethen-existing enhancement object library, provide pricing information,and provide access to other portions of the job-seeker interface 7000 orto additional interfaces in order to create or update the respectiveenhancement objects 430. Enhancement objects 430 and their relationshipwith the eres 405, the erole 410 and corresponding erole enhancementobjects 435 are described elsewhere. From the enhancement managementstate 7009, the owner may also choose to edit his current eres 405 inthe eres editor state 7004, to create or edit a unique job-seekerderivative web site in the derivative web site account state 7008, toreturn to the job-seeker home state 7003, to manage the intelligentagent 415 for his eres 405, or to manage his erole pools 420.

If from another state, such as the job-seeker home state 7003 or theeres editor state 7003, the owner chooses to manage the intelligentagent 415 for his eres 405, the job-seeker interface 7000 proceeds to anintelligent agent manager state 7010. As described previously, thesoftware system 40 of the present invention compares the owner's eres405 to every erole 410 stored in the erole database 170. As part of thatcomparison, the intelligent agent 415 compares the job preferencesstated in the eres 405 to the job characteristics stated in each erole410, and compares the preferred candidate characteristics in each erole410 to the resume characteristics in the eres 405. Each characteristicor preference comparison may be analyzed by the intelligent agent 415 asa unique match factor. Each erole 410 may then be assessed by theintelligent agent 415 as a function of one or more of the match factors.Also as described previously, the job-seeker interface 7000 allows theuser to affect the importance of a plurality of the match factors in atleast two ways. First, a user may specify that a match factor must besatisfied by a particular erole 410 in order for that erole 410 to beassociated with the eres 405 by setting the “must” indicator for thatmatch factor. Second, the owner may specify the relative importance ofsatisfying the match factors which remain by setting a “weight” for eachone. Table 1 is a table illustrating an exemplary set of eres criteria,the corresponding weighted match factors analyzed by the intelligentagent 415 (and an explanation of the effect of adjusting those weights)and the corresponding erole criteria which are examined by theintelligent agent 415 and compared to the respective eres criteria usingthose weights.

In the intelligent agent manager state 7010, those match factors whichmay be controlled as described above are graphically displayed to theuser by the job-seeker interface 7000. Although as shown and described,the intelligent agent settings 417 for the eres may be set andcontrolled independently of the rest of the contents of the eres 405 inthe separate intelligent manager state 7010, it should be obvious to oneof ordinary skill that the intelligent agent settings 417 for the eres405 may logically be included as an additional segment of the eres 405and controlled in the eres editor state 7004. In either case, theintelligent agent settings 417 for the eres 405 may be stored inassociation with the eres 405 in the eres database 165.

A match factor will only be active if the eres owner has enteredinformation in his eres 405 which corresponds to the respective matchfactor. Each match factor preferably has an associated “must” indicatorinput facility and a “weight” input facility. In a preferred defaultarrangement, none of the “must” indicators are initially set for theactive match factors, and all of the weights for the active matchfactors are initially set to be equal. In the intelligent agent managerstate 7010, the user has the option of setting the “must” indicator, oradjusting the weight, for any of the active match factors. Preferably,the owner may also directly access the portion of his eres 405corresponding to any of the match factors by selecting the desired matchfactor. If the owner selects one of the match factors, the job-seekerinterface 7000 proceeds directly to open the selected portion of theeres 405 in the eres editor state 7004. From the intelligent agentmanager state 7010, the owner may also choose to edit his current eres405 in the eres editor state 7004, to return to the job-seeker homestate 7003, or to manage his erole pools 430.

As described elsewhere, a pool of eroles 420 is comprised of thoseeroles 410 which have been published through a particular publishingprogram and which have become associated with the owner's erole 410.Preferably, an erole 410 may be published to eres owners through aplurality of programs, so the erole 410 may be included in more than onepool 420. Also preferably, the programs include at least an affiliatepublishing program and a reference ID program, and the rules forassociating an erole 410 with an eres 405 depend on the program. In anaffiliate publishing program of the present invention, an erole 410cannot become associated with the owner's eres 405 unless the ownerdistributes his eres 405 to the erole 410 and the erole 410 and the eres405 match each other. In a reference ID program, an erole 410 cannotbecome associated with the owner's eres 405 unless an eres owner firstresponds to the erole 410 with his eres 405.

If the user chooses to manage his erole pools 420, then the next stateentered by the job-seeker interface 7000 may depend on whether or notany eroles 410 are currently associated with the user's eres 405 throughthe publishing program corresponding to the selected erole pool 420. Ifthere are currently one or more eroles 410 associated with the eres 405in the chosen pool 420, then the job-seeker interface 7000 proceedsdirectly to the pool manager state 7012. On the other hand, if there arenot any eroles 410 associated with the user's eres 405 in the chosenpool 420, then the next state entered by the job-seeker interface 7000may depend on the publishing program corresponding to the selected erolepool 420. In a preferred embodiment, if the selected erole pool 420 isthe pool corresponding to the reference ID program, then the job-seekerinterface 7000 may proceed directly to the pool manager state 7012 butwith a message to the user indicating that the user has not responded toany eroles 410. However, if the selected erole pool 420 is the poolcorresponding to the affiliate publishing program, then the job-seekerinterface 7000 may proceed first to an eres distribution manager state7011. In the eres distribution manager state 7011, the user can controlthe participation status of his eres 405 with regard to eroles 410published within the marketspace corresponding to the user's currentaffiliated system 30. The user can choose whether to view all matchingeroles 410 published in the current marketspace and to automaticallydistribute his eres 405 to their owners, to view all matching eroles 410published within the current marketspace but to selectively distributehis eres 405 only to the owners of those eroles 410 he selects, or toneither view any eroles 410 published within the current marketspace nordistribute his eres 405 to any job-offerors through the currentaffiliated system 30 at all. Once the user has set his participationstatus for the marketspace corresponding to the current affiliatedsystem 30, the user may choose to manage his eres 405, to return to thejob-seeker home state 7003, or to proceed to the pool manager state7012.

It should be noted that an eres owner may wish to set the participationstatus for his eres 405 differently in different marketspaces. Forexample, if separate marketspaces were defined for two neighboringgeographic areas, the eres owner might choose to have his eres 405participate in both marketspaces and only those two marketspaces.Because the participation status of the eres 405 for each marketspacemay be set independently, the eres owner needs only to utilize the eresdistribution manager state 7011 to publish the eres 405 in the twoneighboring marketspaces, and to remain unpublished in all othermarketspaces. This may be accomplished by registering first in onemarketspace and setting the participation status for the eres 405 withregard to that marketspace in the eres distribution manager state 7011of the software system 40 for that marketspace, and then by registeringin each additional marketspace and setting the participation status forthe eres 405 with regard to each as desired.

As described previously, when comparing eroles 410 to a particular eres405, the intelligent agent 415 analyzes a series of match factorsrepresenting comparisons of specific characteristics and preferences inthe respective eres 405 and eroles 410. In effect, when performing thiscomparison, the intelligent agent 415 also considers as an additionalmatch factor the respective marketspaces of each erole 410 in relationto the marketspace of the eres owner's current affiliated system 30. Themarketspace of each affiliated system 30 has a unique identifier. If theeres owner has chosen to distribute his eres 405 through the currentaffiliated system 30, then the marketspace identifier corresponding tothe current affiliated system 30 is set for the owner's eres 405.Similarly, each erole 410 stored in the erole database 170 may have oneor more marketspace identifiers corresponding to the respectivemarketspaces in which that erole 410 is published. Thus, as theintelligent agent 415 considers each erole 410 in turn as a possiblematch for the owner's eres 405, the intelligent agent 415 examines themarketspace identifiers set for each erole 410 to determine whether thaterole 410 was published in the marketspace corresponding to the eresowner's current affiliated system 30. In effect, the marketspaceidentifiers are treated as “must” conditions which must be met in orderfor a match to be found between the owner's eres 405 and a particularerole 410.

In the pool manager state 7012, the job-seeker interface 7000 displays alist of all of the eroles 410 which currently make up a particular pool420. In one embodiment, when the user first enters the pool managerstate 7012, the job-seeker interface 7000 defaults to display thecontents of the affiliate publishing pool 420 of the user's currentaffiliate. Thus, the contents of the current affiliate's publishing pool420 are initially presented to the user. However, it should be clearthat the pool 420 of another publishing program may be used as thedefault pool instead. In addition, the user preferably has the option ofmanaging a different erole pool 420 in the pool manager state 7012 atany time, wherein the different erole pool 420 corresponds to adifferent publishing program.

In addition to switching to a different erole pool 420, the owner alsohas the options of viewing his eres 405, viewing the contents of aparticular erole 410, controlling the way the eroles 410 are displayed,and the like. If the owner chooses to view his eres 405, then thejob-seeker interface 7000 graphically presents the current eres 405 tothe user in the view eres state 7005. If the user selects a particularerole 410 for viewing, the erole 410 is graphically displayed to theuser by the job-seeker interface 7000 in a view/rate erole state 7017.Preferably, when viewing an erole 410 in the view/rate erole state 7017,the user has the option of rating the erole 410 on a scale. In oneembodiment, the scale is a numerical scale, and the user may attributewhatever meaning he chooses to the numbers on the scale. Alsopreferably, when viewing an erole 410 in the view/rate erole state 7017,the user may advance forward or backward to the next or previous erole410 in the pool 420. When finished, the user may return to the currentpool 420 in the pool manager state 7012.

Preferably, the user may control a plurality of aspects of how theeroles 410 in the current pool 420 are displayed. In a first aspect, theuser may choose the number of eroles 410 which are displayed at onetime. In a second aspect, the user may choose the ordering methodologyused to present the matching eroles 410 to the user. Advantageously, ina first ordering methodology, the matching eroles 410 may be arrangedinto tiers based on how closely they match the eres 405. In a preferredembodiment, there are five tiers, but it should be clear that othernumbers of tiers may be used. The tiers are listed in order from thetier containing the eroles 410 which most closely match the eres 405 tothe tier containing the eroles 410 which most minimally match the eres405, and within each tier the eroles 410 are similarly listed on thebasis of how closely they match the eres 405. If the pool 420 includeseroles 410 to which the user has chosen to distribute his eres 405through the reference ID program, those eroles 410 which did not meet“must” criteria are preferably placed in a separate tier from thoseeroles 410 which did. In another ordering methodology, the user may ratethe eroles 410 on a scale, and the eroles 410 may be arranged accordingto the ratings given. Preferably, a standard scale may be provided, andthe user may assign whatever meaning he chooses to the units on thescale. In a third ordering methodology, the eroles 410 may be ordered onthe basis of whether they have or have not been viewed by the user yet.In a fourth ordering methodology, the eroles 410 may be ordered on thebasis of when they arrived in the job-seeker's erole pool 420. In afifth ordering methodology, the eroles 410 may be ordered on the basisof the amount of time which has elapsed since the erole owner lastutilized the system 20. The fourth and fifth methodologies may also beenhanced through the use of graphical indicators of the age of eacherole 410 or the elapsed time since each erole owner last utilized thesystem 20. In one example of a graphical indicator, one or more shadesof the color yellow could be applied to each erole 410 displayed in thepool 420 to indicate eroles 410 that are older or younger than others bymimicking the effects of light on a piece of paper over time; i.e., anerole 410 colored with a darker shade of yellow would be understood tobe older than an erole 410 colored a lighter shade of yellow or coloredwhite. In another example of a graphical indicator, the edges of eacherole 410 displayed might be blurred or distorted differently toindicate eroles 410 that are older or younger than others by mimickingthe effects of physically handling a piece of paper over time; i.e., anerole 410 that is displayed with severely distorted edges would beunderstood to have been viewed more frequently by a user, or is older,than an erole 410 which has precisely defined edges as viewed in thejob-seeker interface 7000. Either of these techniques, or others notdescribed herein, may also be applied when viewing individual eroles inthe view/rate erole state 7017. Finally, in addition to choosing theordering methodology employed, the user is also preferably able tocontrol how many eroles 410 are viewed at a time. Additional aspects mayalso be provided.

The Job-Offeror Interface

If at the affiliate introduction state 7001 the user chooses to log into the job-offeror interface 8000, then the user proceeds to thejob-offeror home state 8002. As described previously, in a preferredembodiment, the system interface which is provided to the user isdetermined on the basis of the owner identifier which is entered, but itshould be clear that alternatively a user could manually select thedesired interface from the affiliate introduction state 7001, ordifferent affiliate introduction states 7001 could be provided forjob-seeker and job-offeror users, respectively. In the job-offeror homestate 8002, the user has the options of managing his organization'seroles 410 including the eroles' respective intelligent agent settings416, managing responses to his organization's respective eroles 410,creating a unique organizational job opening derivative web site,managing the job-offeror account or switching to a different affiliate.If the user chooses to manage his organization's eroles 410, then thejob-offeror interface 8000 proceeds to the erole editor list state 8004.As described previously, an organization is preferably allowed tomaintain as many eroles 410 as desired in the erole database 170. In theerole editor list state 8004 the user is able to view the status of allof the organization's currently-defined eroles 410, to create a newerole 410 or to edit an existing erole 410. If the user chooses tocreate or edit an erole 410, the job-offeror interface 8000 proceedsdirectly to the erole editor state 8005. The job-offeror interface 8000prompts the user to enter appropriate information and data directly intothe system 20 through the interface 8000 in a format which correspondsdirectly to the format utilized by the system 20 for eres 405.

In an exemplary embodiment, the erole may be divided into a plurality ofsections, and a separate graphical display is provided to the user foreach section. Also preferably, a user may access any of the sectionsdirectly and independently in order to input, edit or view theinformation items associated therewith. Sections may include, but arenot limited to, the following: the organization, the work involved, pastexperience desired of applicants, education and training desired ofapplicants, and knowledge and skills desired of applicants.

The entry of data into each erole 410 is facilitated by the use of thecommon language architecture. As described previously, the commonlanguage architecture utilizes a variety of mechanisms to standardizethe data in the respective data files 405, 410 and to standardize theformat in which that data is entered, stored and displayed. Thisstandardization enables data files 405, 410 to be more systematicallyreviewed, and further allows the intelligent agent 415 to more preciselycompare Category A data files 405 to Category B data files 410 byreciprocally comparing specific data entries in each Category A datafile 405 to corresponding data entries in each Category B data file 410and by comparing specific data entries in each Category B data file 410to corresponding data entries in each Category A data file 405.

The job-offeror interface 8000 includes many types of standardizationmechanisms which prompt users to enter data into their respective eroles410 in an optimal format for comparison to eres 405 by the intelligentagent 415. By utilizing a plurality of these standardization mechanisms,the quantity of “freeform” data which is entered by users is minimized,and the job and preferred candidate characteristics described by thedata may be more easily compared to the job preference and resumecharacteristics described by the data in the eres 405.

The types of standardization mechanisms are similar to those describedpreviously with respect to the job-seeker interface 7000. In a firsttype of a standardization mechanism, an erole owner may assign a “yes”or “no” value to a particular characteristic which either describes thejob being offered or the candidate being sought. In a second type of astandardization mechanism, an erole owner may select the characteristicwhich best describes either the job being offered or the candidate beingsought from a list of possible characteristics. In a third type of astandardization mechanism, an erole owner may select one or morecharacteristic which either describes the job being offered or thecandidate being sought from a set of possible characteristics. In afourth type of a standardization mechanism, an erole owner may select anumerical range of values within which a particular characteristic,describing either the job being offered or the candidate being sought,lies. In a fifth type of standardization mechanism, an erole owner mayselect a characteristic which either describes the job being offered orthe candidate being sought from a library of characteristics. Referenceshould be made to the description of the job-seeker interface sectionfor further description of the various mechanisms.

Further, for those types of data for which standardized answers are notfeasible or desirable, further standardization may also be provided byproviding a uniform system of headers under which such “freeform” datamay be entered. This may be implemented by prompting the user to enterinformation in response to specific categories of data. For example, theuser may be prompted to provide a title for the job referenced by theerole 410, or to enter comments regarding a particular entry in theerole 410. Thus, although the data itself is “freeform,” each erole inthe erole database 170 may be organized into a standard format to makemanual review easier.

As described previously, the software system 40 of the present inventioncompares each of the user's eroles 410 to every eres 405 stored in theeres database 165. As part of that comparison, the intelligent agent 415compares the preferred candidate characteristics stated in the erole 410to the resume characteristics stated in each eres 405, and compares thejob preferences in each eres 405 to the job characteristic stated ineach erole 410. Each characteristic or preference comparison may beanalyzed by the intelligent agent 415 as a unique match factor. Eacheres 405 may then be assessed by the intelligent agent 415 as a functionof one or more of the match factors. Also as described previously, thejob-offeror interface 8000 allows the user to affect the importance of aplurality of the match factors in at least two ways. First, a user mayspecify that a match factor must be satisfied by a particular eres 405in order for that eres 405 to be associated with the erole 410 bysetting the “must” indicator for that match factor. Second, the user mayspecify the relative importance of satisfying the match factors whichremain by setting a “weight” for each one. Table 2 is a tableillustrating an exemplary set of erole criteria, the correspondingweighted match factors analyzed by the intelligent agent 415 (and anexplanation of the effect of adjusting those weights) and thecorresponding eres criteria which are examined by the intelligent agentand compared to the respective erole criteria using those weights.

Those match factors which may be controlled as described above may begraphically displayed to the user in a facility of the job-offerorinterface 8000. Although as shown, the intelligent agent settings 416for the erole 410 may be logically be included as an additional segmentof the erole 410 and controlled in the erole editor state 8005, itshould be obvious to one of ordinary skill that the intelligent agentsettings 416 could alternatively be set and controlled independently ofthe rest of the contents of the erole 410 in a separate intelligentagent manager state. In either case, the intelligent agent settings 416for the erole 410 may be stored in association with the erole 410 in theerole database 170.

A match factor will only be active if the erole owner has enteredinformation in the erole 410 which corresponds to the respective matchfactor. Each match factor preferably has an associated “must” indicatorinput facility and a “weight” input facility. In a preferred defaultarrangement, none of the “must” indicators are initially set for theactive match factors, and all of the weights for the active matchfactors are initially set to be equal. In the intelligent agent controlfacility, the user has the option of setting the “must” indicator, oradjusting the weight, for any of the active match factors. Preferably,the user may also directly access the portion of his erole 410corresponding to any of the match factors by selecting the desired matchfactor. If the user selects one of the match factors, the job-offerorinterface 8000 proceeds directly to open the selected portion of theerole 410 in the erole editor state 8005.

From the erole editor list state 8004 or the erole editor state 8005,the user may also choose to manage erole enhancement objects 435, tomanage the publication of the organization's eroles 410, to change thepublication status of one of the eroles 410, to return to the home state8002, or to manage the eres responses to the organization's eroles 410.If the user chooses to manage erole enhancements, the job-offerorinterface 8000 proceeds to the enhancement management state 8013. In theenhancement management state 8013, the job-offeror interface 8000 mayintroduce enhancement objects 435 which are available for attachment toeroles 410 through the job-offeror interface 8000, provide pricinginformation for the enhancements, and the like. Enhancement objects 435and their relationship with the erole 410, the eres 405 andcorresponding eres enhancement objects 430 are described elsewhere. Fromthe enhancement management state 8013, the user may choose to view orupdate a list of the currently attached enhancement objects 435 for allhis organization's eroles 410, to return to the home state 8002, tomanage the content of the organization's eroles 410, to manage thepublication of the organization's eroles 410, or to manage responses tothe organization's eroles 410.

If the user chooses to view or update a list of the currently attachedenhancement objects 435 for all his organization's eroles 410, thejob-offeror interface 8000 proceeds to the enhancement status list state8014. In the enhancement status list state 8014, the job-offerorinterface 8000 may present a list of all the organization's currenteroles 410 to the user along with the enhancement objects 435 which arecurrently attached to each. The user may choose to create an additionalenhancement object 435, to edit current enhancement objects 435, or toview the respective eroles 410. If the user chooses to create or edit anenhancement object 435 for one of the eroles 410 in the list, thejob-offeror interface 8000 may provide access to other portions of thejob-offeror interface 8000 or to additional interfaces in order tocreate or update the respective enhancement object 435. If the userchooses to view a particular erole 410, then the job-offeror interface8000 graphically presents the selected erole 410 to the user in the viewerole state 8015. In addition, from the enhancement status list state8014, the user may choose to return to the home state 8002, to managethe content of the organization's eroles 410, to manage the publicationof the organization's eroles 410, or to manage responses to theorganization's eroles 410.

If the user chooses to manage the participation status of theorganization's eroles 410, the job-offeror interface 8000 proceeds tothe publication list state 8011. In the publication list state 8011 theuser is able to view the participation status of all of theorganization's currently-defined eroles 410 and to select a particularerole 410 for participation status adjustment. Alternatively, the usermay select an erole 410 for participation status adjustment directlyfrom the erole editor list state 8004. In either case, the job-offerorinterface 8000 proceeds to the publication adjustment state 8012.

In the participation adjustment state 8012, the user can choose topublish the erole 410 using the reference ID program, to change theaffiliate publication status with regard to eres 405 distributed withinthe marketspace corresponding to the owner's current affiliated system30, or to extend the current affiliate publication status with regard tothe same eres 405. With regard to the affiliate publication status, anerole owner may preferably choose between viewing all eres 405 whichmatch the selected erole 410 and automatically publishing the erole 410to all matching eres 405 automatically, viewing all eres 405 which matchthe selected erole 410 and selectively publishing the erole 410 only tothose matching eres 405 which are chosen by the erole owner, subscribingto all matching eres 405 without publishing the erole 410 to any eres405, or remaining non-participating. If the user chooses to publish orsubscribe the selected erole 410, then the interface may present anorder confirmation to the user before returning to either the eroleeditor list state 8004 or the publication list state 8011.

In effect, the intelligent agent 415 also considers as an additionalmatch factor the respective marketspaces of each eres 405 in relation tothe marketspace of the erole owner's current affiliated system 30. Themarketspace of the erole owner's current affiliated system 30 has aunique identifier. If the erole owner has chosen to publish or subscribethe erole 410 through the current affiliated system 30, then themarketspace identifier corresponding to the current affiliated system 30is set for the owner's erole 410. Similarly, each eres 405 stored in theeres database 165 may have one or more marketspace identifierscorresponding to the respective marketspaces in which that eres 405 isdistributed. Thus, as the intelligent agent 415 considers each eres 405in turn as a possible match for the owner's erole 410, the intelligentagent 415 examines the marketspace identifiers set for each eres 405 todetermine whether that eres 405 was distributed in the marketspacecorresponding to the erole owner's current affiliated system 30. Ineffect, the marketspace identifiers are treated as “must” conditionswhich must be met in order for a match to be found between the owner'serole 410 and a particular eres 405.

Returning to the job-offeror home state 8002, if the owner chooses tocreate or edit a custom organizational job opening derivative web site,then the job-offeror interface 8000 proceeds directly to aorganizational web site manager state 8042 which may introduce the ownerto the concept and purpose of the organizational job opening derivativeweb site, which may illustrate the concept with a graphical ormultimedia example of such a site by which the erole owner would be ableto manage his web site account, and which may allow the owner to requestsuch a web site. The organizational job opening derivative web siteincludes one or more job opening derivative web site and an job openingsummary web page. Each job opening derivative web site is a set of dataextracted from a particular erole 410, its associated enhancementobjects 435 and any other portions of the job opening contextualrepresentation 402, including any graphical or multimedia components ofthe contextual representation 402. Although described herein as a website, it should be noted that any type of data package may instead beutilized, including, for example, a set of files which may be downloadedonto a disk and sent directly to a job-seeker. The data included in theweb site may be all or only a portion of the data contained in thecontextual representation 402, and the format of the data may take onany suitable form, including the format utilized by the software system40 to display the erole 410 and any associated enhancement objects 435.The job opening summary web page may be a summary or list of all theeroles 410 owned by the erole owner, and provides links to each of theindividual job opening derivative web sites. Thus, if the erole owner isan organization, the job opening summary web page may display all theeroles 410 representing job openings currently available within thatorganization. The software system 40 provides the erole owner with aunique URL which may be utilized by any internet user to view the jobopening summary web page, and from the job opening summary web page, theindividual job opening derivative web sites associated with therewith.Only the owner of the respective erole 410 may manage that erole'scorresponding web site and the job opening summary web page. A system ofjob opening derivative web sites suitable for use with the presentinvention is the SeeUs.R™. system of job opening derivative web sitesdeveloped by Digital Discoveries, Inc.R™. of Knoxville, Tenn. Once theerole owner requests that such an job opening derivative web site beestablished, the erole owner may, from the organizational job openingweb site manager state 8042, be allowed to access the job openingderivative web site directly; extend the period of time for which theweb site is active; enable or disable password protection for the website; add, edit or remove a customized greeting for the web site; or thelike. The owner may also choose to manage his organization's eroles 410including the eroles' respective intelligent agent settings 416, tomanage responses to his organization's respective eroles 410, to managehis job-offeror account or to switch to a different affiliate.

Returning to the job-offeror home state 8002, if the owner chooses tomanage his job-offeror account, then the job-offeror interface 8000proceeds to a job-offeror account manager state 8043. In the job-offeroraccount manager state 8043, the user may be able to define or provideaccount information, billing information, or the like. In addition, auser may choose to identify, to the software system 40, additionalindividuals or groups of individuals who should be granted access asusers to the system 20. A separate identifier and password may beestablished for each unique user established. Once established, eachuser may have access to one or more portions of the system 20, with theamount and type of access permitted being controlled by one or moremaster users. A plurality of levels of access may be permitted. Forexample, some users may only be able to view content such as anorganization's eroles 410 or a set of eres 405, while other users mayfurther be able to define and edit eroles 410 for an organization, andstill others may further be able to control the participation status ofthe various eroles 410. A master user may also be allowed to establishthe particular portions of a job-seeker contextual representation 401which may be viewed by other users. This may, for example, be defined onan enhancement object-by enhancement object 430 basis, such that oneuser may not be able to view or access any enhancement objects 430,another user may be able to view or access only a virtual interviewenhancement object 430 and a thinking styles assessment enhancementobject 430, while still another user may be able to view or access allavailable enhancement objects 430 associated with the respective eres405 in an eres pool 425. Finally, from the job-offeror account managerstate 8043, a user may also choose to manage his organization's eroles410 including the eroles' respective intelligent agent settings 416, tomanage responses to his organization's respective eroles 410, to createor edit a custom organizational job opening derivative web site, or toswitch to a different affiliate.

In a first alternative embodiment of the job-offeror interface, if theuser chooses, from the job-offeror home state 8002, to manage responsesto the organization's eroles 410, the job-offeror interface 8000proceeds to the erole response summary state 8016. In the erole responsesummary state 8016, the job-offeror interface 8000 may present lists ofall eroles published in each of a plurality of publishing programs, thenumber of eres 405 in the system 20 which are currently associated witheach erole 410 in each list, the expiration date of the publication ofeach erole 410 in each program, and the like. In a preferred embodiment,the available programs include at least the reference ID program and thecurrent affiliate's publishing program. Each erole 410 may preferably bepublished utilizing any of the publishing programs, and therefore eacherole 410 may be included in more than one list. In an affiliatepublishing program, the eres 405 which are associated with a particularerole 410 include all potentially matching eres 405 which have beenpermitted by their owners to be distributed to the erole's owner. In areference ID program, the eres which are associated with a particularerole are those eres 405 whose owners have responded directly to theerole 410.

In the erole response summary state 8016, the user may choose to viewthe pool of responsive eres 425 associated with an erole 410 in any ofthe programs by selecting an erole 410 from one of the lists. If theuser selects an erole 410 from one of the publishing program lists, thenthe job-offeror interface 8000 proceeds to the pool manager state 8017wherein a list of all of the responsive eres 405 in a pool 425corresponding to a particular publishing program are displayed. Thus, ifthe user selects an erole 410 from the current affiliate's publishingprogram list, then the job-offeror interface 8000 proceeds to displaythe contents of the affiliate pool 425 of the user's current affiliatein the pool manager state 8017. Alternatively, if the user selects anerole 410 from the reference ID program list, then the job-offerorinterface 8000 proceeds to display the contents of the reference ID pool425 in the pool manager state 8017. In addition, from the erole responsesummary state 8016, the user may choose to return to the home state 8002or to manage the organization's eroles 410.

In a second alternative embodiment of the job-offeror interface 8000,all eres 405 which are associated with a particular erole 410,regardless of the publishing program through which the eres 405 wereassociated with the erole 410, are displayed together in a single pool425. In this embodiment, the job-offeror interface 8000 allows a user tomanage responses to the organization's eroles 410 by proceeding directlyfrom the job-offeror interface 8000 to the pool manager state 8017 todisplay a single eres pool 425 containing all of the eres 405 which havebeen associated with a selected erole.

As previously stated, in the pool manager state 8017, the job-offerorinterface 8000 displays a list of all of the eres which currently makeup a particular pool. Preferably, the user has the option of managing adifferent eres pool 425 in the pool manager state 8017 at any time. Inthe first alternative embodiment described above, the different erespool 425 may correspond to the same erole 410 published in a differentpublishing program, a different erole 410 published in the samepublishing program, or both. In the second alternative embodimentdescribed above, the different eres pool 425 may correspond to the eres405 associated with a different erole 410 through any publishingprogram. Further, with regard to the affiliate publishing program, thedifferent eres pool 425 may correspond to the same erole 410 publishedwithin a marketspace other than the one corresponding to the currentaffiliate. A selectable list of available marketspaces, or ofmarketspaces in which the selected erole 410 is published, may beprovided to the user in the pool manager state 8017 for the purpose ofenabling the user to move from one marketspace to another.

In addition to switching to a different eres pool 425, the user also hasthe options, in the pool manager state 8017, of viewing the selectederole 410, viewing the contents of a particular eres 405, controllingthe way the eres 405 are displayed, and the like. If the user chooses toview the selected erole 410, then the job-offeror interface 8000graphically presents the selected erole 410 to the user at view erolestate 8015. If the user selects a particular eres 405 for viewing, theeres 405 is graphically displayed to the user by the job-offerorinterface 8000 in a view/rate eres state 8018. Preferably, when viewingan eres 405 in the view/rate eres state 8018, the user has the option ofrating the eres 405 on a scale. In one embodiment, the scale is anumerical scale, and the user may attribute whatever meaning he choosesto the numbers on the scale. Also preferably, when viewing an eres 405in the view/rate eres state 8018, the user may advance forward orbackward to the next or previous eres 405 in the pool 425. Whenfinished, the user may return to the current pool 425 in the poolmanager state 8017.

Preferably, the user may control a plurality of aspects of how the eres405 in the current pool 425 are displayed. In a first aspect, the usermay choose the number of eres 405 which are displayed at one time. In asecond aspect, the user may choose the ordering methodology used topresent the matching eres 405 to the user. Advantageously, in a firstordering methodology, the matching eres 405 may be arranged into tiersbased on how closely they match the erole 410. In a preferredembodiment, there are five tiers, but it should be clear that othernumbers of tiers may be used. The tiers are listed in order from thetier containing the eres 405 which most closely match the erole 410 tothe tier containing the eres 405 which most minimally match the erole410, and within each tier the eres 405 are similarly listed on the basisof how closely they match the erole 410. If the pool 425 includes eres405 which have been distributed to a the selected erole 410 through thereference ID program, those eres 405 which did not meet “must” criteriaare preferably placed in a separate tier from those eres 405 which did.In another ordering methodology, the user may rate the eres 405 on ascale, and the eres 405 may be arranged according to the ratings given.Preferably, a standard scale may be provided, and the user may assignwhatever meaning he chooses to the units on the scale. In a thirdordering methodology, the eres 405 may be ordered on the basis ofwhether they have or have not been viewed by the user yet. In a fourthordering methodology, the eres 405 may be ordered on the basis of whenthey arrived in the job-offeror's eres pool 425. In a fifth orderingmethodology, the eres 405 may be ordered on the basis of the amount oftime which has elapsed since the eres owner last utilized the system 20.The fourth and fifth methodologies may also be enhanced through the useof graphical indicators of the age of each eres 405 or the elapsed timesince each eres owner last utilized the system 20. In one example of agraphical indicator, one or more shades of the color yellow could beapplied to each eres 405 displayed in the pool 425 to indicate eres 405that are older or younger than others by mimicking the effects of lighton a piece of paper over time; i.e., an eres 405 colored with a darkershade of yellow would be understood to be older than an eres 405 coloreda lighter shade of yellow or colored white. In another example of agraphical indicator, the edges of each eres 405 displayed might beblurred or distorted differently to indicate eres 405 that are older oryounger than others by mimicking the effects of physically handling apiece of paper over time; i.e., an eres 405 that is displayed withseverely distorted edges would be understood to have been viewed morefrequently by a user, or is older, than an eres which has preciselydefined edges as viewed in the job-offeror interface 8000. Either ofthese techniques, or others not described herein, may also be appliedwhen viewing individual eroles in the view/rate eres state 8018.Finally, in addition to choosing the ordering methodology employed, theuser is also preferably able to control how many eres 405 are viewed ata time. Additional aspects may also be provided.

Returning once again to the job-offeror home state 8002, the user maychoose to switch to a different marketspace by entering the affiliateintroduction state 7001 of the affiliated system 30 corresponding to thechosen marketspace. In the exemplary embodiment described hereinabove, alist of available marketspaces may be immediately accessible from theaffiliate introduction state, and if the user selects one of theavailable marketspaces, the software system 40 immediately providesaccess to the job-offeror interface 8000 for the correspondingaffiliated system 30. For example, if the system 20 is a web-basedsystem, a page associated with the affiliate introductory state 7001 forthe current marketspace may include a list of URL's corresponding to theintroductory pages of the affiliated systems 40 for respective availablemarketspaces. Information describing the marketspace may also beprovided to the user on the same or a related page, including suchdetails as the scope of the marketspace, the number of current eres 405or eroles 410, sponsors of the affiliated system 30 for thatmarketspace, and the like.

Although not illustrated, it should be obvious that an ad hoc querymechanism similar to the one provided by the job-seeker interface 7000may also be provided by the job-offeror interface 8000. Using such amechanism, a user would be able to access individual eres 405 byformulating a query and then selecting a particular eres 405 from aresulting query match list. Such an option may, for example, beavailable from the job-offeror home state 8002. If the user wished toformulate a query, then the job-seeker interface 8000 would proceed to aquery manager state, whereupon the user could formulate the queryitself. The query would comprise a series of criteria selected by theuser from the common language architecture. The contents of the querywould then be matched directly against all the eres 405 stored in theeres database 165 by comparing each selected criteria to thecorresponding criteria in the respective eres 405. Those eres 405 whichinclude all of the selected criteria could then be presented to the userin a query match list in a query match list state. If the user selectedone of the eres 405 from the query match list, then the job-offerorinterface 8000 would proceed to a view/respond eres state to graphicallydisplay the corresponding eres 405. The user would then be able torespond to the eres 405 by generating an erole 410 and publishing ordistributing it to the eres 405.

The Intelligent Agent

FIGS. 9A-9C illustrate steps taken by the intelligent agent 415 inconjunction with the software system 40 of the present invention inexecuting the intelligent agent matching process 9000. The intelligentagent 415 operates concurrently with the job-seeker and job-offerorinterfaces 7000, 8000 described previously to carry out the operationsof the eres and erole management processes 5000, 6000 which were alsodescribed previously. The intelligent agent 415 operates automaticallyin the background to compare all eres 405 registered in each marketspaceto all eroles 410 registered in the same marketspace. Operation of theintelligent agent 415 is triggered whenever the participation status ofa data file 405, 410 is edited or adjusted. The newly edited or adjusteddata file, which is either a Category A or a Category B data file and isdefined as the updated data file 440, is then compared to all of thedata files, defined as unchanged data files 445, of the other category.Thus, when the content or participation status of an eres 405 ischanged, the eres 405 is compared anew to all eroles 410 in the eroledatabase 170 which participate in any marketspace in which the eresparticipates. Similarly, when the content or participation status of anerole 410 is changed, the erole 410 is compared anew to all eres 405 inthe eres database 165 which participate in any marketspace in which theerole 410 participates.

Each comparison between a Category A data file 405 and a Category B datafile 410 is carried out utilizing the common language architecturedescribed previously. Comparisons between data files are executed bycomparing individual criteria in one data file 405, 410 to correspondingcriteria in the comparison data file 410, 405. Table 1 illustrates anexemplary set of eres criteria and their corresponding erole criteria.Table 2 illustrates an exemplary set of erole criteria and theircorresponding eres criteria. It should be noted that the criteriacompared when matching eroles 410 to an eres 405, as shown in Table 1,are not necessarily the same as the criteria compared when matching eres405 to an erole 410, as shown in Table 2. Because the entered datacorresponding to each criteria is governed by the standardizedmechanisms of the common language architecture, each criteria in thefirst data file 405, 410 may be successfully compared to itscorresponding criteria in the comparison data file 410, 405.

Further, although not shown in Tables 1 and 2, it has been notedelsewhere herein that a comparison between a Category A data file 405and a Category B data file 410 may also include the comparison betweenof the eres and erole enhancement objects 430, 435 associated with therespective data files 405, 410. Because of the corresponding orreciprocal nature of the enhancement objects 430, 435, the content ofeach such enhancement object 430, 435 may be compared to the content inthe corresponding or reciprocal enhancement object 435, 430. Forexample, the thinking styles assessment object for the eres owner may becompared to the reciprocal thinking styles assessment object for theerole owner; the work preferences assessment object for the eres ownermay be compared to the reciprocal preferred work style characteristicsobject for the erole owner; and the professional skills assessmentobject for the eres owner may be compared to the reciprocal professionalskills assessment object for the erole owner.

It should also be noted that when an updated data file 440 is comparedto the corresponding unchanged data files 445, a bidirectionalcomparison must be carried out. First, the content of each unchangeddata file 445 is examined by the intelligent agent 415 to determine howclosely the unchanged data file 445 matches the updated data file 440.As described below, each unchanged data file 445 may be scored againstthe updated data file 440 on the basis of how closely it matches theupdated data file 440. Second, and less intuitively, the content of theupdated data file 440 is examined by the intelligent agent 415 todetermine how closely the updated file matches 440 each unchanged datafile 445. Also as described below, each updated data file 440 may bescored against each unchanged data file 445 on the basis of how closelyit matches the unchanged data file 445. Significantly, because each datafile 405, 410 may contain an item preferences segment 406, 411, becausethe Category A owner may set the weights of the match factorsdifferently from the Category B owner, and/or for other reasons, thescore a particular unchanged data file 445 achieves against the updateddata file 440 may be, and usually is, different from the score theupdated data file 440 achieves against the same unchanged data file 445.An exemplary set of match factors for eres 405 which may be weighted or“must'd” and the criteria to which they correspond is illustrated inTable 1. An exemplary set of match factors for eroles 410 which may beweighted or “must'd” and the criteria to which they correspond isillustrated in Table 2. Included in each table is an explanation of theeffect of adjusting those respective weights or setting their respective“must” indicators.

Operation of the intelligent agent matching process 9000 begins at step9005 with the selection of an initial unchanged data file 445 which isto be compared to the updated data file 440. In comparing any unchangeddata 445 file to the updated data file 440, the intelligent agent 415first determines at step 9010 whether the unchanged data file 445 meetsall of the updated data file's 440 “must” criteria, and at step 9020determines whether the updated data file 440 meets all of the “must”criteria of the unchanged data file 445. If any of the “must” criteriaof either the updated data file 440 or the unchanged data file 445 arenot met, then at step 9080 the intelligent agent determines whetherthere are any more unchanged data files 445 to consider, and if so,advances to the next one. As described previously, “must” criteriainclude all “must” indicators set by the respective data file owner, aswell as whether the data files 440, 445 participate in the samemarketspace, as indicated by marketspace identifiers. The intelligentagent 415 may determine marketspace participation by either examiningthe data files 405, 410 directly, or by consulting a reverse sortdictionary which contains a list of those data files 405, 410 which arecurrently participating in the current marketspace. If a reverse sortdictionary is utilized, the dictionary is updated each time theparticipation status of any data file 405, 410 changes.

If a particular unchanged data file 445 and the updated data file 440meet each other's “must” requirements, then at step 9022 the unchangeddata file 445 is included in the appropriate pool 420, 425 of theupdated data file 440, and the updated data file 440 is included in theappropriate pool 420, 425 of the unchanged data file 445. The inclusionof data files 405, 410 in pools 425, 420 is discussed elsewhere. Next,two sub-processes 9100, 9200 are executed. In a first sub-process 9100,each unchanged data file 445 may be scored against the updated data file440 on the basis of how closely it matches the updated data file 440. Ina second sub-process 9200, the content of the updated data file 440 isexamined by the intelligent agent 415 to determine how closely theupdated data file 440 matches each unchanged data file 445. As shown,the two sub-processes 9100, 9200 are executed generally simultaneously,but it should be obvious to one of ordinary skill that the twosubprocesses 9100, 9200 may instead be executed sequentially, witheither the first sub-process 9100 being executed before the secondsub-process 9200, or the second sub-process 9200 being executed beforethe first sub-process 9100. The steps of each intelligent agent matchingsub-process 9100, 9200, which are very similar, are next described.

FIG. 9B is a flowchart illustrating the steps of the first intelligentagent matching sub-process 9100. The first intelligent agent matchingsub-process 9100 begins at step 9125 by resetting a total match factorscore variable and a total weight variable, each of which correspond tothe particular unchanged data file 445 At step 9130, the intelligentagent 415 begins examining the individual non-must'd match factors inthe updated data file 440. For each such match factor, the owner of theupdated data file 440 may have specified a criteria value. At step 9135the intelligent agent 415 determines if such a criteria value, which theintelligent agent 415 treats as a desired value, has been specified. Ifnot, then the intelligent agent 415 ignores that match factor and, if atstep 9170 there are additional non-must'd match factors to consider, theintelligent agent 415 continues on at step 9155 to the next one. On theother hand, if at step 9135 the intelligent agent 415 determines that adesired criteria value has been specified, then a score is calculatedfor the unchanged data file 445 as described below.

In scoring the unchanged data file 445, the intelligent agent 415 firstdetermines at step 9137 whether an actual value has been specified inthe unchanged data file 445 for the match factor under consideration. Ifso, then at step 9140 the intelligent agent 415 compares the desiredcriteria value specified by the owner of the updated data file 440 tothe actual value of the corresponding criteria in the unchanged datafile 445 and derives a fit value based on how similar the actual valueis to the desired value. The fit value, which is preferably a realnumber from 0 to 1, may be derived in a number of ways, some of whichare described below. On the other hand, if, at step 9137, no actualvalue has been specified for the match factor in the unchanged data file445, then the fit value is instead set to a constant value at step 9142.The constant value may be chosen to most accurately reflect thestatistical effect of the absence of data for a particular match factor.In an exemplary embodiment, the constant value is set to 0.18, butdifferent values may be chosen for different situations.

Regardless of how the fit value is set, at step 9145 the intelligentagent 415 next multiplies the fit value for the current match factor bythe weight given that match factor by the owner to calculate a matchfactor score. Preferably, the weight is a real value from 0 to 100. Alsopreferably, if the owner has specified a criteria but fails to define aspecific weight for the match factor corresponding to that criteria, theweight of that match factor defaults to a predetermined value, such as50. Match factors for which no desired value has been provided by theowner carry a weight of zero. Next, at step 9160, the match factor scoreis added to the total match factor score for the current unchanged datafile 445 relative to the updated data file 440, and at step 9165 theweight of the match factor is added to the total weight. Finally, theintelligent agent 415 determines at step 9170 whether there any morenon-must'd match factors to consider and at step 9155 continues on tothe next one.

Once the last match factor has been examined, the intelligent agent 415calculates a final score at step 9175 by dividing the total match factorscore accumulated for the unchanged data file 445 by the total weightaccumulated for the same data file 445. This final score is then storedwith the updated data file 440 in the appropriate database 165, 170along with final scores for all of the other unchanged data files 445whose “must” criteria are met by the updated data file 440 and whichmeet the updated data file's 440 “must” criteria as determined in steps9010 and 9020. Finally, the first intelligent agent matching sub-process9100 ends and the intelligent agent 415 returns to step 9078 to awaitthe completion of the second sub-process 9200, the operation of which isnext described.

It should be noted that data storage requirements may optionally bereduced by storing the calculated scores only when they exceed athreshold value which may be predefined by the administrator of thesystem. Thus, data files 440, 445 which meet each other's must criteriaare always included in the appropriate pools 420, 425 as described withregard to step 9022, but an unchanged data file's 445 score with respectto the updated data file 440 will not be stored if it does not meet thethreshold value, and likewise the updated data file's 440 score withrespect to an unchanged data file 445 will not be stored if it does notmeet the threshold value. It should also be noted that if this option isimplemented, then a corresponding adjustment may be necessary if anordering methodology involving the scores of the data files 405, 410 isemployed to display the data files 405, 410 in a pool 420, 425. Forexample, if a tiering system is used, those data files 405, 410 in thepool 420, 425 for which a score is not available may automatically beplaced in the last tier.

FIG. 9C is a flowchart illustrating the steps of the second intelligentagent matching sub-process 9200, which operates at substantially thesame time as the first intelligent agent matching sub-process 9100. Inthe second intelligent agent matching sub-process, a total match factorscore variable and a total weight variable, each corresponding to theupdated data file 440 relative to the particular unchanged data file 445against which it is being scored, are set to zero at step 9225. At step9230, the intelligent agent 415 begins examining the individualnon-must'd match factors in the unchanged data file 445. For each suchmatch factor, the owner of the unchanged data file 445 may havespecified a criteria value. At step 9235 the intelligent agent 415determines if such a criteria value, which the intelligent agent 415treats as a desired value, has been specified. If not, then theintelligent agent 415 ignores the match factor and, if at step 9270there are additional non-must'd match factors to consider, theintelligent agent 415 continues on at step 9255 to the one On the otherhand, if at step 9235 the intelligent agent 415 determines that adesired criteria value has been specified, then a score is calculatedfor the updated data file 440, relative to the current unchanged datafile 445, as described below.

In scoring the updated data file 440, the intelligent agent 415 firstdetermines at step 9237 whether an actual value has been specified inthe updated data file 440 for the match factor under consideration. Ifso, then at step 9240 the intelligent agent 415 compares the desiredcriteria value specified by the owner of the unchanged data file 445 tothe actual value of the corresponding criteria in the updated data file440 and derives a fit value based on how similar the actual value is tothe desired value. The fit value, which is preferably a real number from0 to 1, may be derived in a number of ways, some of which are describedbelow. On the other hand, if, at step 9237, no actual value has beenspecified for the match factor in the updated data file 440, then thefit value is instead set to a constant value at step 9242. The constantvalue may be chosen to most accurately reflect the statistical effect ofthe absence of data for a particular match factor. In an exemplaryembodiment, the constant value is set to 0.18, but different values maybe chosen for different situations.

Regardless of how the fit value is set, at step 9245 the intelligentagent 415 next multiplies the fit value for the current match factor bythe weight given that match factor by the owner to calculate a matchfactor score. Preferably, the weight is a real value from 0 to 100. Alsopreferably, if the owner has specified a criteria but fails to define aspecific weight for the match factor corresponding to that criteria, theweight of that match factor defaults to a predetermined value, such as50. Match factors for which no desired value has been provided by theowner carry a weight of zero. Next, at step 9260, the match factor scoreis added to the total match factor score for the updated data file 440relative to the current unchanged data file 445, and at step 9265 theweight of the match factor is added to the total weight. Finally, theintelligent agent 415 determines at step 9270 whether there any morenon-must'd match factors to consider and at step 9255 continues on tothe next one.

Once the last match factor has been examined, the intelligent agent 415calculates a final score at step 9275 by dividing the total match factorscore accumulated for the updated data file 440 by the total weightaccumulated for the same data file 440. This final score is then storedwith the unchanged data file 445 in the appropriate database 165, 170along with the previously-stored final scores for other unchanged datafiles 445. Finally, the second intelligent agent matching sub-process9200 ends and the intelligent agent 415 returns to step 9078 to awaitthe completion of the operation of the first sub-process 9100, aspreviously described.

Once both the first and second sub-processes 9100, 9200 have completedtheir respective operations, the intelligent agent 415 determines atstep 9080 whether there are any more unchanged data files 445 to bescored against the updated data file 440 and against which the updateddata file 440 is to be scored, and at step 9015 proceeds to the nextone. Steps 9010-9080 and sub-processes 9100 and 9200 may then berepeated until there are no more unchanged data files 445 to be comparedto the updated data file 440.

As stated previously, a fit value may be derived in a number of ways,some of which are described below. In a first example of the derivationof a fit value, a bitmask may be used to assign a fit value of 1 if theactual value is precisely the same as the desired value, and to furtherassign a fit value of 0 if the actual value differs at all from thedesired value. Alternatively, a bitmask may be used to assign a fitvalue of 1 if any entries in a target list are included among a theentries in an actual list, and to further assign a fit value of 0 ifnone of the entries in the target list are among the entries included inthe actual list.

In a second example of the derivation of a fit value, a list-to-listevaluation may be used to compare a list of desired values to a list ofactual values. A fit value may be calculated based on how many entrieson the list of desired values are on the list of actual values. In avariation of a list-to-list evaluation, an entry on the target listcould be a category of sub-entries, where the category is defined as aparent entry and the sub-entries in that category are defined aschildren of that parent. Partial or full credit could then be given forany entry found on the actual list which is a child of a parent on thetarget list. Similarly, an entry on the actual list could be a parent ofmultiple children, and partial or full credit could be given when anentry on the target list is a child of any parent which is found on theactual list.

In a third example of the derivation of a fit value, a fuzzy logicalgorithm may be used to assign fit values on the basis of a pluralityof rules. Table 3 shows an exemplary set of rules developed forassigning a fit value using such an algorithm. In Rule 1, a fit value of1 is assigned when the difference between the desired value and theactual value is zero (i.e., when the desired value and the actual valueare equal), without regard to the size of the desired value. In Rule 2,a “high” fit value is assigned when the size of the desired value islarge and the result of the desired value subtracted from the actualvalue is positive and has a very small magnitude. Additional Rules 3-13assign alternative fit values on the basis of the size of the desiredvalue and/or the sign and magnitude of the result of the desired valuesubtracted from the actual value. The various rules are then combinedtogether utilizing established fuzzy-logic techniques to formulate aunified fuzzy-logic algorithm for modeling the fit value which isdesired for any combination of inputs, and the final fuzzy-logicalgorithm is then integrated into the intelligent agent 415. A suitablefuzzy-logic modeling system is the fuzzyTECH system from InformSoftware, Inc. of Chicago, Ill.

In a fourth example of the derivation of a fit value, a table of cellsmay be created, wherein each cell contains a fit value chosen to reflectthe relationship between a particular desired value and a particularactual value. The fit values contained in the cells may reflect, forexample, the amount of overlap between a desired range of values and anactual range of values. If more than one cell is selected (such as whenmore than one actual value or more than one desired value, or both, isprovided), then an algorithm may be defined to select the final fitvalue on the basis of the plurality of fit values contained in therespective cells. It should be obvious that the algorithm may select thehighest fit value, an average fit value, a more complex formula, or thelike.

In a fifth example of the derivation of a fit value, a traditional“least squares” fit may be used to calculate a fit value for a matchfactor consisting of a series of numerical values representing aplurality of item characteristics. In a traditional least squares fit,each value in the series of actual numerical values is subtracted from acorresponding value in a series of desired numerical values, and therespective remainders are each squared and summed together. A fit valueis then assigned on the basis of the magnitude of the total of thesquares, with a fit value of 1 being assigned when the magnitude of thetotal of the squares is zero. It should also be clear to one of ordinaryskill that other formulas may be used instead of merely summing thesquares of the differences, and that a wide variety of formulas may beused to translate the result of the formula into a suitable fit value.Finally, it should also be clear that any of these techniques areequally applicable to the derivation of fit values for either anunchanged data file 445 being scored against the updated data file 440,or for the updated data file 440 being scored against an unchanged datafile 445.

Commercial Applications

It will be obvious that the above-described embodiments of the presentinvention have a wide variety of commercial applications. Aspects ofsome of these applications are described below.

The personal job-seeker derivative web sites may be used by their ownersto quickly and efficiently provide information extracted from theirrespective contextual representations 401 to a particular job-offeror.The URL may be distributed in any manner the user chooses. For example,the URL may be placed on a user's resume, emails, job boards, businesscards and the like. The structure of the web sites enables users toutilize the depth and breadth of the content contained in theircontextual representations 401 to describe themselves more fully toprospective hiring managers. Similarly, the custom job openingderivative web sites and job opening summary web pages may be used bytheir owners to quickly and efficiently provide information extractedfrom their respective contextual representations 402 to potentialjob-seekers. The URL may likewise be distributed in any manner the ownerof the job-opening chooses. For example, the URL may be placed on anorganization's own corporate site, in newspaper ads and on job boards.The structure of the web sites enables users to utilize the depth andbreadth of the content contained in their organizational contextualrepresentations 402 to describe themselves and their job openings morefully to prospective job-seekers. In addition, password protection maybe utilized in conjunction with either type of web site to moreeffectively limit access to personal or sensitive information displayedin or through the web sites.

The present invention provides a tremendous amount of flexibility withregard to the development of income from users of such a system as isherein described. First, the users are categorized into at least twotypes. Thus, any transactional fees imposed by an administrator of asystem of the present invention may be implemented or adjusted on thebasis of the user type. For example, in the job market, the system maybe made available to job-seekers for free, while large fees may becharged to job-offerors for the services provided by the system. Inaddition, multiple users sharing ownership of a set of eroles may becategorized into different types of users, and fees may be establishedon the basis of both how many users are permitted and on whatcapabilities each user is permitted.

Further, as was described previously, the market for a particular typeof item is preferably subdivided into marketspaces of a variety oftypes. For example, in the job market, separate marketspaces might bedefined for geographic areas such as cities, career focus areas, andgroups of users such as college students, with one or more individualmarketspaces being defined for each city, career focus area, and usergroup. Because the system is designed to operate on a marketspace bymarketspace basis, an administrator may control each marketspaceindependently of the others. As a result, any transactional costs placedon the various activities carried out by the users may be implementedand adjusted on a marketspace by marketspace basis. Thus, for example, alarge fee might be imposed in a marketspace corresponding to Pittsburgh,Pa., while a much smaller fee might be imposed in a marketspacecorresponding to Holland, Mich.

The marketspace concept also enables separate business relationships tobe established with different types of entities, and for the purveyor ofa system of the present invention to cooperate with other entrants in aparticular market rather than competing with them. For example, in thejob market, a partnership may be established between the system ownerand a local newspaper in a particular geographic area, such that areference ID corresponding to a particular erole 410 is published alongwith a standard advertisement for the job opening corresponding to thaterole 410 in the local newspaper, so that job-seekers may peruse thelocal classified ads to discover jobs, and then utilize the system 20 torespond to the job opening by distributing an eres 405 to the erole 410.Also for example, a company might utilize an affiliated system 30,partitioned from any other systems 20, to organize internal job openingsin order to permit employees to transfer to a more suitable job withinthe company or to more effectively reallocate employee resources withinthe company.

Another type of flexibility is provided by the data filedistribution/publication feature. For example, in the job-offerorinterface described previously, if the owner of an erole 410 wishes forthe erole 410 to participate in the system (or in a particularmarketspace, if marketspaces are implemented), then the owner may havethe options of automatically publishing, selectively publishing orsubscribing the erole 410. Thus, an administrator might choose to imposea large fee on the erole owner if the erole 410 is automaticallypublished, a smaller fee if the erole 410 is selectively published, andno fee whatsoever if the erole 410 is merely subscribed. In thisexample, the “subscribed” option might be provided to users as a way tointroduce the user to the system and to entice the user to utilize theservices with which a fee is associated. In addition, the variousdistribution or publication levels may further be controlled withrespect to the amount of time the respective items are published,distributed or the like. Thus, the erole owner might be allowed tosubscribe an erole 410 for free for 30 days, after which time a feemight be imposed for a further subscription period, or the owner mightbe required to either selectively or automatically publish if he wishesthe erole 410 to participate further.

Additional flexibility is provided by the modular aspects of thecontextual representations 401, 402 and their constituent parts. Eachenhancement object may be separately provided and controlled and maytherefore be priced differently, including being offered for free or forfree for a limited time. Further, because the job-seeker and job openingderivative web sites are derived or extracted from the contextualrepresentations 401, 402, they may similarly be priced separately oreven priced according to how much of the respective contextualrepresentations 401, 402 are included.

Finally, the system 20 provides a seamless, integrated, automated methodfor advertising or otherwise publishing information about one or moreparticular item using a wide variety of advertising and publishingchannels, both newly developed and preexisting, turning all responsesreceived as a result of those advertising and publishing efforts into aseries of uniform contextual representations 401, 402 of items offeredin exchange for the advertiser item, and systematically analyzing thosecontextual representations 401, 402 to identify and organize them on thebasis of a corresponding contextual representation 402, 401 of theadvertiser's item. In particular, a job-offeror, for example, mayadvertise a job-opening using any conceivable means, and all job-seekersresponding to that advertising are driven through the system to generatea contextual representation 401 of themselves, which may then be matchedby the software system 40 against a contextual representation 402 of thejob opening defined by the job-offeror, assessed automatically andpresented to the individual or organization offering the job in auniformly and orderly fashion.

It will therefore be readily understood by those persons skilled in theart that the present invention is susceptible of broad utility andapplication. Many embodiments and adaptations of the present inventionother than those herein described, as well as many variations,modifications and equivalent arrangements, will be apparent from orreasonably suggested by the present invention and the foregoingdescription thereof, without departing from the substance or scope ofthe present invention. Accordingly, while the present invention has beendescribed herein in detail in relation to its preferred embodiments, itis to be understood that this disclosure is only illustrative andexemplary of the present invention and is made merely for purposes ofproviding a full and enabling disclosure of the invention. The foregoingdisclosure is not intended or to be construed to limit the presentinvention or otherwise to exclude any such other embodiments,adaptations, variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements, thepresent invention being limited only by the claims appended hereto andthe equivalents thereof.

1. A method of reciprocally publishing and matching data files, themethod comprising the steps of: storing a Category A data file having aset of characteristics corresponding to a Category A item; storing aCategory B data file having a set of characteristics corresponding to aCategory B item; and using fuzzy logic to determine the degree of fit ofthe Category B data file relative to the Category A data file.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the step of using fuzzy logic to determinethe degree of fit comprises using fuzzy logic to compare a plurality ofthe Category B characteristics to respective Category A characteristics.3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of using fuzzy logic tocompare Category B characteristics to Category A characteristicscomprises using fuzzy logic to determine the degree of fit of each ofthe plurality of Category B characteristics to a respective Category Acharacteristic.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the Category B datafile is a first Category B data file, the method further comprising thesteps of: storing a second Category B data file; using fuzzy logic todetermine the degree of fit of the second Category B data file relativeto the Category A data file; and ordering the Category B data filesaccording to the relative fits of the respective Category B data files.5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of using fuzzylogic to determine the degree of fit of the Category A data filerelative to the Category B data file, wherein the degree of fit of theCategory A data file relative to the Category B data file is determinedseparately from the degree of fit of the Category B data file relativeto the Category A data file.